Summer Girl
by TRDancer
Summary: Bella has always thought that her future was set in stone, but could one defining party and one gorgeous boy change everything? AU/AH. Continuation of the one-shot written for the "Off the Page" Contest.
1. Prologue

**"Off The Page" Contest**

**Pen Name**: TRDancer**  
Title**: Summer Girl**  
Book/Written Work**: Gossip Girl Series by Cecily von Ziegesar  
**Summary**: Bella has always thought that her future was set in stone, but could one defining party and one gorgeous boy change everything? AU/AH, One-shot, Lemon. Written for the "Off The Page" Contest.  
**Word Count**: 2223

**For rules and Other Submissions, please visit**: http://www(DOT)fanfiction(DOT)net/u/1981556/

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**Summer Girl  
Prologue  
_Bella has always thought that her future was set in stone, but could one defining party and one gorgeous boy change everything? AU/AH. Continuation of the one-shot written for the "Off the Page" Contest.  
_**

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_Hey there, summer boy  
Let's go for a drive  
Take me for a ride  
_--Lady Gaga, Summerboy

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_School's out for the summer, boys and girls! It's the moment you've all been waiting for, time to move your private school uniform to the back of your closet and break out your designer shades, mini sundresses, and Havaianas flip flops. It's the season for vacations to the Hamptons, parties that last all night long, tanned skin, and those hot boys that seem to enjoy running along the surf just for us girls to watch. _

_But while it might all seem like fun and games to someone on the outside, drama is stirring underneath the surface. Yes, you heard me right, we haven't left it all in the classroom—and really, would life be fun if we had? _

_B and J are still going strong—but for how much longer? There's a new boy in the Hamptons, and he's eyeing B up. With J off in the Bahamas with his parentals, B is practically on the market. What J doesn't know won't hurt him, right? _

_The scrumptious newcomer is also the host of the number one party on the beach; the kick-off for the entire summer. This party defines this summer's who's hot and who's not, so if you're not there...well, sorry, honey, but you're not. This party determines the summer's relationships—which couples we're all going to be ooh'ing and ah'ing over—at least until fall shows it's ugly face and back to real life we go._

_So I hope to see you there tonight—not that you'll know it's me. But I'll see you if you're worth seeing, don't worry about that. I'm always watching—and I'll be watching _very _closely this summer. It's going to be a hot one!_

_xoxo,_

_Gossip Girl_

Isabella Swan—referred to as Bella by anyone who knew what was good for them—slammed her Macbook Air shut, giving it a contemptuous glare.

Bella officially _hated _Gossip Girl, whoever that God damned person even was.

What right did GG have to say that Bella was on the market? Because she _wasn't_, not at all. Bella was convinced she was going to marry Jacob one day, and they were going to have perfect little children that would grow up living perfect lives on the Upper East Side, just like Jake and Bella had. It was Bella's ultimate fantasy, and it was within her grasp already. Why would she ever deign to ruin that by hooking up with some random boy that she'd never see again in her life?

I can think of a few reasons.

Bella sighed and stretched out in her white leather office chair, flexing her French pedicured toes and letting her brown Lacoste flip flops—_much_ more chic than Havaianas, as Bella had been informed only yesterday by her best friend and partner in crime, Alice—fall onto the impeccably smooth tile floor.

Suddenly the air around Bella seemed to become muggy and hard to breathe in, though it was chilled to the perfect temperature by expensive air conditioning technologies. Even knowing this, Bella's breathing pattern still changed and she began to feel a bit nauseous. She stared blankly up at the ceiling, but it seemed to be coming straight down at her, moving closer and closer and closer until it would finally squish her like an annoying mosquito and—_that's it, _she thought. _I need to get outside for some fresh air._

Bella stood up and brushed off the seat of her bright blue Guess board shorts. She headed over to the sliding glass door leading from her bedroom onto a beachside deck, sliding her D&G sunglasses out of her messy brown curls and over her eyes instead. Bella made a quick adjustment to the strap of her bikini top, slid the door open easily, and stepped out into the sunshine.

Taking in a deep breath, Bella smiled, happy to be out of the claustrophobic pastel purple and white cavern she called her room. It had been decorated by Bella and her father many years ago, when they had first purchased the beach house, and when Bella's parents had still been together. Back then, Bella had loved purple, ponies, and princesses. Now that was all in the past, and purple was definitely not this season's in colour, just like Renee and Charlie Swan were not Hollywood's in couple of the moment.

Bella crossed the deck to the railing and hopped up onto it. It was made exceptionally wide at this part, so that she could lie down on it and stare at the surf. She did just that.

She hadn't had it custom built for nothing.

It looked like it would have been a good day for surfing if Bella did that sort of thing. In fact, Bella was sure she could see someone riding a wave in at that very moment. She squinted, trying to determine whether or not it was someone she knew. She sat up and leaned closer as he reached the beach and hopped off of his board, shaking out his short, brownish-red hair.

Just then he turned his head to look directly at Bella and Bella realized that it was most definitely not someone she knew—which was very rare in this area of the Hamptons. Everyone knew everyone and everyone made everyone's dirty little secrets their business around here. It was just part of life, whether in Manhattan or here.

The boy, however, seemed to recognize Bella, as he smiled and started to jog over to her. Bella's grip on the railing tightened and her eyes widened. _What was he doing?_

"Hey," he said when he'd made it across the sand. "Bella Swan, right?"

Bella nodded. "Who are you?"

"I'm Edward Cullen," he answered, holding out a hand for her to shake. "My family's beach house is next door."

"Oh." She hesitantly took his hand and shook it lightly. Was this the newcomer that had been in this morning's Gossip Girl article?

He dropped her hand and shoved both of his own into his cut-off Diesel jeans, pulling them even lower on his hips and shifting his weight onto the balls of his feet. Bella stared at the two lines that were forming a 'V' in his skin, leading downwards past the top of the dark wash denim. She remembered that Jacob had those lines too, but for some reason she had never found them so fascinating.

"Are you coming to the party tonight?" Edward asked, breaking Bella's concentration and bringing her focus back to his face.

"Of course." Bella flashed Edward her best dazzling smile.

Before Edward could say anything else Bella's iPhone buzzed in her pocket and she took it out, smiling apologetically at Edward before reading the text.

_B—See you in two! –A _

"I have to go. I'll see you tonight though, right? You're the one hosting, or am I going crazy?"

Edward gave Bella _his_ best dazzling smile, which was about the force of one million diamonds glittering underneath a gigantic UV lamp. "I'm the host, yeah. See you later." _So he _is_ the newcomer GG mentioned. And he's been eyeing me? What is that supposed to mean?_

Edward turned and started to run back across the sand toward his surfboard. Bella sat and watched him for a moment longer before hopping off the railing and heading back inside to meet Alice for their pre-party primping ritual.

~*~

Edward leaned against the railing of his balcony and took a sip of his beer, scanning the growing crowd on the beach below him for a head of brown curls. He had no particular interest in anyone else tonight, only her.

Bella Swan.

He was well aware of the fact she had a boyfriend, but it didn't matter to him. It was summer. Summer didn't have the same rules the school year did when it came to relationships. The boyfriend was of no consequence to Edward. After all, he wasn't here. Edward was.

Poor Jakey-boy.

Edward searched the crowd below again to no avail. Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair and took another swig of his beer. _Where was that girl?_ She'd said she would be here, and it was nearing one already.

Edward had finally decided to go downstairs and actually look for her, maybe ask around, when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He jumped, dropping his beer right off the balcony, and spun to see who it was.

Standing at the foot of his bed and looking pretty comfortable there in her bright yellow Versace bikini stood Bella Swan, looking at him curiously, her head tipped slightly to the right.

Edward didn't move. He just stood and stared at her. As he did so, her cheeks coloured slightly, barely noticeable, but definitely there.

Bella walked over to Edward. Neither of them gave any thought to the party that was still raging on wildly below them. On the balcony they were in their own little bubble, almost a different world.

"What were you doing up here all by yourself?" Bella asked quietly, leaning sideways against the railing and flipping her straightened hair over her shoulder.

"I was looking for you, actually," Edward admitted, leaning against the railing as well. "I didn't know you were going to come to me."

Bella grinned wryly. "I thought this was the washroom. I was just going to leave, but then I saw you..."

Edward nodded as if he completely understood the logic of coming up to the second floor to find a washroom. Bella sighed and shifted position so that her body was facing out over the party. Edward followed suit.

Bella stared at Edward's exposed arm and wondered what it would be like to run her fingers up and down it. Somehow, she found herself doing just that, her warm fingers against his cold skin. He turned to look at her, searching her face for what exactly she was intending, wondering what she wanted.

Edward recognized this as his in and reached up with his opposite arm to touch her face, sliding his fingers into her hair and bringing her closer until their lips were touching. Bella responded immediately, grabbing onto his hair and forcing her tongue into his mouth.

Then, just as instantly, she was on the other side of the balcony, her face distressed.

"I can't do this. I have a boyfriend. I have a boyfriend," she repeated it several times, like a mantra, before Edward interrupted her.

"He's not here."

Bella's head snapped up and she stared at him. "What?"

"He's not here," Edward repeated. Bella continued to stare at him blankly. "Think about it, Bella. You want this. I want this. We're never going to see each other again." Edward took a few steps toward her, and pressed his lips to hers again.

She didn't pull away.

Instead, she grabbed the bottom of his T-shirt and yanked upwards, pulling it over his head and throwing it to the side before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him again. He lifted her up so that her legs were around his waist and carried her to the bed, laying her down on it carefully. He untied the string on her bikini top and pulled it off. Bella reached for the button on his jeans as he worked her bikini bottoms down. They both fell in puddles on the floor and Edward rolled over top of Bella, pushing himself into her.

And that was only the first time.

~*~

Bella woke up when it was still dark outside, the sky the navy colour of the early morning. Edward was breathing softly beside her, one arm lying protectively over her naked back. The music had stopped, but Bella could hear a few stray partygoers still laughing downstairs.

Bella pushed Edward arm off of her and wriggled out of the bed. She quickly put her bikini back on and headed for the door, allowing herself only one guilty glance back at Edward's sleeping form before she left, never to see him again.

She hoped.

~*~

Edward woke up much later, when the sun had reached the bed and was shining directly in his eyes. He sat up groggily and looked around for Bella before realizing she was gone. He slumped back in the bed, disappointed. But it was as he had expected, really.

One night was almost too much to ask from a girl like Bella.

~*~

_Spotted: E and B in E's room doing the dirty by about fifty different drunk people who have problems with choosing the correct door. It's a little sad, actually. If you want the proof, I have the emails and texts, as well as the people behind them. __I __also have a camera phone video of E entering B (it's great, trust me), but I won't be distributing that. Could you all refrain from sending me those in the future? Thanks._

_So will we be seeing more of this couple this summer? Are B and J over? Only time can tell._

_Good thing we've got lots of that._

_xoxo,_

_Gossip Girl_

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_I wrote a melody all about a girl like a summer breeze  
I'll never see her again  
_--Stereos, Summer Girl

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	2. Chapter 1

**Summer Girl  
Chapter One  
_Bella has always thought that her future was set in stone, but could one defining party and one gorgeous boy change everything? AU/AH. Continuation of the one-shot written for the "Off the Page" Contest.  
_**

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_School. It's a terrifying prospect, isn't it? But it's inevitable—I even informed you at the beginning of the summer that it wouldn't last forever. And while it's been great (hot affairs, anyone?) it's now time to return to the city and go on living our perfect Upper East Side lives, the summer only a distant memory._

_While some of us have had quite the uneventful summer and are almost relieved to be heading back to the city, I can most definitely think of a few people that wish the summer would just start over again. Sometimes what you've done in the past can come back to haunt you, and I have a feeling B's in for it this time._

_It's fall now, and we've got ourselves the perfect real-life drama to watch—who needs those sleazy TV shows that run for one season and then go off the air? We've got a lifetime of entertainment right in front of us._

_So grab some popcorn and settle into your plush leather couches, boys and girls. This one's going to be hot._

_xoxo,_

_Gossip Girl_

"_We're never going to see each other again."_ The words echoed in my head over and over again, in the same melodic tone. After listening to them repeat over and over in my brain, I could detect all the little things that made it _his._ The fluidity, the grace, the slightly sad nuance to it that could barely be detected, though I heard it loud and clear now.

They were the words that had changed my mind, that had made something in me switch gears and turn onto the opposite path I had been on. They were the difference between what felt right and what was wrong. They were the beginning of the best night of my life and the end of life as I knew it.

I wished they'd never been spoken.

At the time, they had seemed like a solid promise, the kind that are never broken because you forget all about everything that has to do with them the very next day. But now that I was back in the city, it didn't seem like that anymore.

After all, he was standing in front of me right now, so the whole thing about not seeing each other again was obviously void now.

Edward was leaning against the side of his black stretch limo, which was parked in front of Constance Billiard, looking as if he was waiting for something—or someone. I ducked behind the brick pillar I'd been leaning against, out of his sight. The last thing I needed was him to come over to me and start a conversation about God knows what. There were enough rumours going around about what had happened during the summer. There did not have to be the added implication of us talking to each other.

Besides, I thought as I walked through the courtyard towards the front steps, what the hell was he doing here in Manhattan, anyways? Was he not supposed to be back at home—wherever 'home' was—leaving me and my life to go on as they were meant to _without_ further interruption from him?

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I walked right up the steps without stopping at the usual place to wait for Alice and Rosalie to show up. I was going to stop and turn around, but then decided there wasn't much point. To hell with tradition. What was traditional about anything lately?

"Bella! Hey, Bells, get back down here!"

That made me turn around and head back down the steps.

"Jake? What are you doing here?"

Jake spread his arms open wide, making his St. Jude's blazer spread away from his body like he'd sprouted wings, and inviting me in for a hug. "What, I can't come see my girlfriend in the morning to wish her a good day?"

I reached the bottom of the steps and wrapped my arms around Jake, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Nothing, you just surprised me. How did you get over here? The city bus travels the other direction to St. Jude's."

He laughed, giving me a squeeze and then stepping out of the embrace. "Very observant, Bells. I actually caught a ride with the new guy—he stopped at the bus stop and asked me if I wanted a ride, to which I replied sure, as long as he brought me here to surprise you first."

I raised my eyebrows. "New guy?"

"Yeah. Edward something?"

I tried to keep the shock from showing on my face. Jacob refused to join the text network Gossip Girl had set up and he never went on the site, but he knew about my night with Edward, thanks to people discussing it in the streets and, in some cases, directly to him. In turn, I also knew about _his _night with 'a hot Jamaican chick with a cute accent and violet coloured eyes,' also thanks to Gossip Girl. We had decided that we would put the summer behind us when school began again and start fresh.

However, since Jake had never been on the site, he didn't know what Edward looked like—and he hadn't bothered to remember his name, either, it seemed. Unless he was playing me… but no, his expression was completely innocent. After all these years of knowing him, I could tell things like that.

"Oh, cool," I said nonchalantly, still attempting to cover any sign of surprise.

Jake nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I guess I better get back before I make us late. Have a great day, Bella."

"I'll try. Love you."

"Sure, sure. Love you, too," he said, waving over his shoulder. I laughed softly and shook my head. That was Jake for you.

I decided I would wait for Alice and Rose anyway and leaned against the metal railing only to be startled into a standing position again by a chipper "Hi!" from my left.

"Alice, don't do that!"

Alice laughed. "Scared yah, didn't I? Again."

I rolled my eyes. "Where's Rose?"

"Right here," she said, coming up behind Alice. "And have you seen this?" She flipped out her green LG Neon and handed it to me.

_Spotted: E giving J a ride to Constance to see B. What is E up to now? xoxo, GG_

Underneath the blurb there was a picture of Jacob and Edward standing by his limo. I raised my eyebrows and handed the phone back to Rosalie. Alice promptly snatched it out of her hands.

"So?" Rose asked.

"No, I didn't see that, but I knew Jake got a ride with Edward."

"Well, what do you think it means?" Alice inquired, handing Rose's phone back to her.

"It means Jacob is a very forgetful person," I commented.

Alice and Rosalie laughed, then started to talk feverishly about all the different reasons Edward could have picked up Jacob—mostly ridiculously silly things.

We began walking up the steps and I spaced out, thinking about Edward. I knew now why he was parked in front of Constance, but why was he in New York? And what had possessed him to pull over to the bus stop and ask the boy he knew to be my boyfriend if he wanted a ride to school? Unless he didn't know what Jake looked like? Maybe he, like Jacob, boycotted Gossip Girl. But he had recognized me that first day on the beach, so he would have had to have seen pictures of me—and where else would he find those than Gossip Girl? No, he'd known who he was picking up—but _why?_

And why had he told me that he'd never be seeing me again if he knew he'd be living in the city? It was, of course, possible that he hadn't known at the time, and I had nothing to discredit that particular idea.

The bell rang then, startling me out of my thoughts and into the classroom, Alice and Rose beside me. We took our customary seats at the back of the room and settled in for a day of purgatory.

~*~

As soon as the bell for lunch hour rang, my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I flipped it open to see a text from Jake.

_Meet me at Blu's?_

Blu's was the cafe halfway between St. Jude's and Constance, and students from the schools frequently met up there, especially for lunch, since it was quick. I texted Jake a quick 'sure' and headed out of the metal archway, hailing myself a cab in ten seconds flat—an acquired skill, I liked to think.

Ten minutes later I was sitting at our favourite table, in the front corner by the window, tucked away from the rest of the cafe, sipping an iced tea and waiting for Jacob. I stared out the window, watching the people weaving their way around the sidewalk, searching for Jake. I didn't have to wait long before I saw his head bobbing over most everyone else's. I resisted an urge to snort. It looked ridiculous.

Jake disappeared from my view, coming inside the cafe, I assumed, though I couldn't see because of the short wall blocking my vision of the room. Jake poked his head over the wall and waved slightly.

"I'm going to grab a drink and then I'll be back. You want anything?"

I shook my head, holding up my iced tea. He nodded and disappeared behind the wall again. I took a sip of my drink and went back to staring out the window. The harsh sunlight started to hurt my eyes, so I started rummaging around in my white Gucci purse for my sunglasses. Finding them, I placed them delicately on my face, and turned to look out the window again.

Jake slid into the seat across from me and poked my arm with his straw. I swatted it away playfully and he waved it close to my nose.

"Fear the mutant straw," he intoned, jabbing it at me.

"You're going to poke my eye out with that thing!" I made to grab it, and missed, making him laugh and wave it at me again. I snatched up my unopened straw from the tabletop and brandished it at him. "Oh yeah, now we're even, aren't we?"

He laughed. "I can take you, little girl." He poked the end of my nose.

"Who you calling little?" I narrowed my eyes at him and then lunged, my hand closing around the straw as I half-stood up, leaning over the table, and pulled it out of his grip. "Yes! I win! Take that you—" But my joking insult died on my lips the second I saw _him _standing in line at the counter, running a hand through his hair absentmindedly.

What the hell was Edward doing here? I stood completely still, staring at him in shock, wondering if I was seeing right. But of course I was. I knew he was in New York City, I knew he was going to St. Jude's. Why wouldn't he be at Blu's? Just because it was the place that Jake and I spent most of our lunch hours didn't mean that no one else was allowed to come to it.

"...Bella? Bella? Are you alive? Did the straw kill you after all?" I finally realized Jake was talking to me and shook my head, sitting back down on my chair.

"I'm fine, just thought I saw..." I trailed off again, realizing that Jake had seemed to be friends, or at least friendly, with Edward this morning, and if I said anything, Jake would most likely want to talk to Edward, and then Edward would see me, and then I'd have to talk to him like I had no idea who he was. It was also very possible that upon seeing me, Edward would let the whole game go and tell Jake exactly who he was—not just his name, but what that name _meant. _And I couldn't let that happen; we'd moved on, but how could we start fresh if dirty things from the past were still hanging around?

"Saw what? Bella, what's up with you?" Jake was staring at me as though I'd grown horns and a tail, or started to sparkle in the sunlight, or something equally strange and unnatural. I shook my head at him.

"Er... nothing... but I just remembered, I promised I'd go grab Alice something before heading back to school... so I have to go." I grabbed my purse and stood up, leaning over to give Jake a quick kiss.

"Bella—"

"Love you, sorry to run off." I peered carefully around the wall to see that Edward was looking up at the menus on the wall, seemingly engrossed in choosing a beverage. I decided that it was my escape and ducked out from behind the wall, walking hurriedly across the cafe and out the door. I glanced in the direction of the window where Jake would be, but I couldn't see in properly. I shrugged off the guilt of leaving him there and hailed myself a cab, telling the driver to drive me back to Constance.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I collapsed against the leather seat and watched the cafe disappear into the distance, the sights and sounds of the Upper East Side all blurring into one big mass of stone and lights.

I took out my cell phone and dialled a familiar number, telling the town car driver where I wanted him to meet us. Then I hung up and texted Alice, telling her to be outside Constance in five.

Alice was waiting outside, of course, sitting cross legged on a bench and painting her nails. I raised my eyebrows blatantly at her, but she ignored me and continued adding layer after layer of gold glitter to each nail.

"You're not bringing that inside the car," I informed her.

"I know that, so shut up and let me finish before the car gets here." She didn't snap, just said it in her typical Alice matter-of-fact tone of voice. I smiled slightly. I'd known Alice was just what I needed right now.

She added one last stroke of polish and then capped the bottle tightly before throwing it into her purse. The car pulled up just as she finished doing so and she stood gracefully, walking over to the car and opening the door for herself, shooing away the driver when he came to help. I hurried after her.

The car began to move and I looked over at Alice, panicked.

"Did you tell him where to go?"

She rolled her eyes and nodded. "Of course I did, Bella. Relax. Drink some champagne or something." Alice leaned her head back on the seat and closed her eyes. I sighed and pulled out a bottle of Dom Perignon from the mini fridge. I popped the cork out with practiced skill and took a swig straight from the bottle.

"Ew, Bella, find a glass. I didn't say to be vulgar about it."

I waved my hand at the backseat. "Do you see a glass anywhere?"

Alice opened a cupboard next to the mini fridge and pointed to the inside. It was full of wine glasses, neatly lined up in perfect rows. The car stopped suddenly, making the glasses slide out off of their shelves and crash onto the floor of the vehicle. I snorted.

"Good job, Alice."

She glared at me and slammed the little door shut just as the driver opened the car door. She stepped carefully over the broken glass and out onto the sidewalk. I followed, leaving the Dom Perignon behind. The store was likely to have complimentary glasses of the bubbly for my enjoyment.

The next two hours consisted of me following Alice around all the shops and her ignoring me while I drank as many glasses of champagne as I could get my hands on. Finally Alice declared that she was done and dragged me off to what I thought was yet another store (because you can't trust Alice to mean what she says) but was relieved to find out was a small restaurant. I collapsed into the booth, my head pounding and my feet sore.

"Did you buy enough?" I asked sarcastically.

Alice looked down at her bags. "For now."

I nodded like I totally understood why she needed all those clothes—or rather, why she bothered shopping for them herself. I just got the latest from all the designers shipped to my house, and Alice could get that too if she wanted.

The waitress came and Alice ordered us both coffees. I didn't object. Then she turned to me and folded her hands together. "Now," she said, "why exactly did we go on a shopping spree in the middle of a school day?"

"I wasn't thinking clearly when I called you, obviously."

Alice narrowed her eyes at me. "I think you were. Did something happen at the cafe? Did Jake break up with you?" Her eyes widened at this, as if the thought had just come to her.

"No."

"No something didn't happen or just no to Jake breaking up with you?"

I sighed and looked at the countertop, avoiding Alice's scrutinizing look. "Jake didn't break up with me. But something did happen... sort of... well, nothing happened. Or..."

Alice stared at me, then leaned across the table and snapped her fingers in my face. "Bella!"

"What?"

"Snap out of your funk. I saw how you were acting all day today, all paranoid and looking over your shoulder while drinking champagne... and now you're drunk." She sighed.

I giggled. "I saw Edward in the cafe."

Alice gasped, making me giggle some more at her theatrics. "What did you do? Did he try and talk to you?"

"I left."

Alice looked disappointed. "Oh, so you left Jake there by himself?"

"Yes. And then I called the car and you, and... you know the rest."

"And Edward didn't do or say anything to acknowledge you?"

"I don't think he even saw me. At least, I hope not."

Alice looked at me thoughtfully, tapping her fingers on the hardtop of the table. "I think, Bella," she finally said, "that you have had a case of overreaction provoked by something of only mediocre importance."

"Don't I know it," I mumbled, groaning and smacking my head down on the table.

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**Here it is. I practically didn't write this, because Leon dictated everything to me, and J, Lenn, and Dream made all of my decisions. Feel free to leave reviews thanking them.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Summer Girl**

**_Chapter Two_**

_Where the hell am I?_ I stared up at the familiar ceiling, wondering why that corner was over there when it was supposed to be there, and that slant was the wrong way...

I sat up and realized I was on my couch instead of my bed. I rolled off and craned my neck so that I could get a better view of the alarm clock on the other side of my bed. _Six in the morning. Time to go to bed. _I got up off the floor and threw myself into the plush comforter, burying my head in the pillows.

And then reality came crashing back down on me. I couldn't go to sleep—not if I wanted to be on time for class. Summer was over. I groaned and pulled myself out of bed, stumbling into the shower.

_School fucking sucks, _I thought to myself as I rubbed shampoo into my hair. I washed it out and dressed in my school uniform, making a face at myself in the mirror.

I looked around my room for my purse, finally finding it under the bed. I didn't bother wondering how it had gotten there—my purse always showed up in the most random places.

There was a knock on my bedroom door, followed by the family's maid and my nanny, Angela, calling out that I needed to get up. I flung open the door and smiled at her.

"Good morning," she said, calm as ever.

"I'm not so sure about the good part."

Angela just shook her head and waved me away. "You'll be late. That was your 'you can't have a shower and you can't eat because you're going to be late if you don't move right now' call."

I rolled my eyes and brushed past her, heading down the large staircase to the elevator. I got in and pressed the button for the ground floor, idly tapping my fingers against the metal railing. The elevator went straight down without stopping at anyone else's floors—something I took as a sign of a great day to come.

I walked into the lobby, feeling like I should whistle and skip or some shit like that. I turned towards the front desk to wave at my favourite receptionist, Claire—she always worked mornings—and did a double take when I saw who was leaning up against the counter talking to her.

_Edward._ Of course. Because he was a fucking stalker as well as an asshole who breaks his promises. There goes my great day.

I immediately moved to the far wall, hunching over and praying that he wouldn't turn around and see me. Did he know that this was my building?

I inched my way across the room, finally making it across to the front doors. Just as I was about to grab the door handle, I heard Edward's voice calling my name from across the foyer. I did a double-take and hesitated, trying to decide whether or not to turn around or to keep going, pretending I hadn't heard him.

And then the door slammed into my head.

"Fuck!" I shrieked, clapping my hands to my head.

"Oh no, Miss! Are you alright?" A distinctly Jamaican accent echoed in my head. I looked up to see a delivery guy with a name tag reading 'Laurent' hovering over me, looking worried. There was a stack of boxes at his feet, I noted. Then I noted that there were more feet joining his, crowding around me. I looked up and almost groaned out loud.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just leave me—" The word 'alone' died on my lips as I noticed Edward at the back of the mob, trying to get to me. Oh no. That was not happening.

"Actually," I amended, "I think I might have a concussion or something. It hurts a lot." I leaned into the Laurent person and attempted to act like I was passing out.

"Can someone get some ice?" he called out to the crowd. I heard resounding footsteps echoing across the lobby, but kept my eyes closed. "Miss Swan, is it? Bella? Stay awake." He gently smacked my cheek and I fluttered my eyelashes, cracking my eyes open. Edward was stuck behind the throng of flustered people, looking hopeless. _Good._

"Ow..." I moaned.

"Miss Bella, here's some ice." Laurent pressed the ice to my head. I grabbed it. I didn't really need it—the pain wasn't really that bad—but anything that kept Edward away from me was good.

"I'm going to be late for school," I whined, still holding the ice to my head. "Laurent, can you give me a ride?"

Laurent looked hesitant, but someone mumbled something unintelligible to him which made him nod decisively. "Sure, I will, Miss Bella." He guided me out of the lobby, letting me lean on him a bit. I didn't look back at the crowd—and Edward—though I wanted to.

Laurent led me to his delivery truck and helped me into the passenger seat, though I didn't need it. At one time I might have felt guilty or maybe even afraid of riding in a stranger's truck, but I had done much worse things and besides, I saw Laurent from time to time, when he was delivering things to the complex. He wasn't a stranger.

The ride to Constance was short and silent. I said a quick thank you to Laurent when we arrived, to which he replied, "Anytime, Miss, anytime."

I walked quickly through the gates into the courtyard, looking around for Alice or Rose. I thought I caught a glimpse of Rose's tell-tale blonde hair across the yard, and was craning my neck, trying to see over the crowd when I tripped over the bottom stair and found myself in a pair of familiar arms.

I looked up to see Edward smiling down at me.

My first thought: _What. The. Fuck._

My second thought: _Oh shit, he's going to talk to me._

My third thought: _Run like hell._

I smacked my hands onto his chest, trying to push myself away from him, but he held onto my upper arms tight.

"Hey, hey, hey. That's no way to treat the person that just saved you from death by concrete," Edward chastised me.

I stopped struggling against his grip and glared, blurting the first thing that came to mind. "Why are you here?"

"I was waiting for you. I wanted to talk to you—and I figured you couldn't run from school. I thought I'd get a chance this morning, but that didn't work out, so..." He stopped talking when he saw me shaking my head.

"No, I mean, why are you here in Manhattan? I thought you said I was never going to see you again," I accused.

Edward looked uncomfortable. "Well, that's a bit harder to explain..."

"Bullshit," I spat, pushing away from him again and breaking free of his grasp. I stalked up the steps behind him, ignoring his calls for me to come back, to let him explain...

I spun around at the top and shouted, "I thought you couldn't explain!"

"I didn't say that," Edward lamented, wringing his hands together. I blinked, trying not to imagine those hands doing other, less appropriate, things. "Look, will you meet me at Jackson Memorial Park at six?"

The shrill sound of the bell cut through the air, and I turned around without giving him an answer. It would have taken me too long to think of one anyways.

~*~

Rose looked at me over the top of her mango smoothie, raising her eyebrows before taking a sip.

"And you think he's been stalking you?" she asked.

"He _has_," I insisted.

"Have you ever thought that maybe it's just a coincidence that he shows up in the same places as you?"

"He told me he was waiting for me at Constance!"

"That's once. It doesn't account for at the apartment building, or Blu's, or when he gave Jake a ride..."

"He gave Jake a ride! What the hell is that about?"

Rose shook her head. "I don't know."

I looked over my shoulder, at the front door, and then did a quick scan of the smoothie bar. No Edward. Thank God. I kept thinking he was going to show up at any minute and... I didn't know what.

I turned back to Rose to see her glaring at me. "Stop being paranoid," she ordered.

"I can't help it. He's monopolized my life!"

"Oh, as if. You're the one letting him affect you like this," Rose pointed out.

I sighed, not wanting to believe what she was saying.

~*~

I was pushing my way through the hallways to Biology class when I heard them talking and stopped in my tracks to listen.

"Have you seen that new guy?"A redhead asked her blonde friend. The blonde giggled.

"Yeah. Isn't he hot? With that messy hair and those green eyes..." She stared off into space dreamily.

"And don't forget that bod of his. And have you seen his hands?" The redhead sighed. "What's his name again?"

_Don't let it be who I think it is. _But I knew it had to be him. Who else fit that description?

"Edward something," the blonde said. I started to walk down the hallway again, feeling odd. By the time I slid onto my stool at my lab table, I'd figured out why. I was jealous. Why I was jealous, I had no idea. I shouldn't be jealous just because those girls were talking about Edward.

I heard the scraping of people sitting down on stools behind me and glanced back to see the same blonde and redhead that had been talking in the hallway—and they were still going at it. I looked back to the front with a sigh.

"So he lived in Africa with his mom?"

"Yeah, I heard he was there for most of his life."

"That must have sucked."

Now this was interesting, but I was still pissed off. I debated in my mind—did I tell them to shut up like I so desperately wanted to or did I keep listening to learn more about Edward?

What kind of a choice was that? I didn't care one whit about Edward, why would I want to listen to them talk about where he'd come from?

I turned around. "Could you two please shut up? I want to concentrate on the class." I turned my back to them before they could say anything to me.

They were silent for a moment before they started to whisper—this time about what a spaz I was. I put my head in my hands, groaning.

Then I realized—if I didn't care about Edward, why would I mind if they were talking about him? I'd never minded knowing things about other people before. What was my problem now?

I had no idea, and that scared me.

~*~

That Biology class was probably the longest one of my life, and I didn't remember a single second of it or the rest of the school day. I'd been so distracted that everything had just turned to a blur.

And now I had no ride home from school.

I could, of course, take the metro, or, an even better decision, call the car to pick me up. In fact, I probably would have had it not been for the smiling Jacob that met me at the bottom of the steps.

"Hey babe," he said cheerfully, putting his arm over my shoulders and guiding me toward the street. "Edward's going to give us both a ride back home. He told me what happened this morning—you really should be more careful, Bella. I don't want you hurt."

"I'm fine, Jake, don't worry." We turned the corner out onto the street and I furrowed my eyebrows, confused. "Who did you say was giving us a ride?"

"Edward Cullen." Just as he said his name, Edward's face popped up behind a nearby limo and he motioned us over. I felt the blood drain from my face.

"Oh, but it's such a nice day! Maybe we should walk!" I said, my voice taking on a nervous edge that I desperately tried to cover.

"If you want to," Jake said, obviously confused. "Just let me go tell Edward."

"Okay, I'll be here." I watched Jake run over to Edward, fidgeting with the zipper on my purse. Edward nodded and said something to Jake that made him look more confused, but he nodded and Edward disappeared inside the limo. Jake jogged back over to me as the limo pulled away.

"All right, we're set to walk. This is amazingly out of character for you, Bells." He shook his head in amazement.

I shrugged. "Yeah, well..." _Edward is changing my entire life._ "What did Edward say to you?"

"Oh, he wanted me to tell you not to forget about meeting him." Jake furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you two doing?"

"Nothing. I mean, I'm not going."

Jake's face visibly relaxed. "Well, that's good."

We began to walk in the direction of my apartment building. Jake took my hand casually, looking out onto the street. It amused me that he always had to do that while he was looking away, he never looked at me until he was sure I wasn't going to shake him off. I never did, so I didn't know why he was so paranoid. Then again, there were a lot of things about Jacob that I didn't know... such as why he was hanging out with Edward.

"So," I began, "how did you and Edward get so friendly?"

"He picked me up at the bus stop yesterday, like I told you, and I thought it would be mean of me to just ditch him once we got to school, so I showed him around and we just became friends from there. Why?"

"Oh, just wondering."

We stayed quiet after that, only stopping once to purchase some drinks at a cart. We arrived at my apartment soon after that and Jake hugged me goodbye, promising to see me in the morning. I feverishly wished for that meeting to be sans Edward, but didn't say anything. Sighing, I turned and entered the building, taking the elevator up to my apartment.

When the elevator doors opened, I was met with an impatient Angela, crossed arms and tapping foot included. "Where have you been?" she asked.

"I walked home with Jake," I explained, confused. "What's the problem?"

She sighed and uncrossed her arms. "Your parents are here."

"What? I thought they weren't coming back from the business trip until next month?" I dropped my purse onto the table by the elevator and followed Angela to the kitchen.

"Yes, well, they're here, and they want to know why I haven't been keeping better tabs on you. So run along and tell them that I've been doing fine like I know you will." She winked and motioned to the dining room. I sighed and headed out.

"Mom? Dad?" I called, stepping into the dining room cautiously.

"Bella. You were almost late for dinner!" my mother chastised me. _Here we go._

"It takes awhile to walk here from the school."

"Why didn't you call the town car to pick you up?" Charlie asked.

"It was nice out," I explained. "I wanted to walk."

Renee furrowed her brows. "That's not like you. Is something wrong?"

_Oh, not really, just that the guy I cheated on my boyfriend with is stalking me and I prefer to do whatever I can to avoid him. _"No, nothing's wrong."

"Well then, sit down and eat with us." Charlie pulled out the chair next to him and patted the seat. I shook my head.

"No thanks, I'm not really hungry."

Renee raised her eyebrows. "You're looking skinny. Has Angela been feeding you at all?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, Angela's been great. Keeping tabs on me at all times, reeling me in for bedtime stories, waking me up for school, feeding me... yup, it's been a blast."

"Glad to hear it," Renee said.

"So I can be excused from dinner?"

"Yes, it'll be fine this time. But I expect you here tomorrow. We need to catch up on everything we've missed!"

I nodded and began to back out of the room. "Sure thing, Mom, Dad. Talk to you later!" I turned around and dashed up the stairs to my room, flopping down on my bed when I got there.

I let my eyes shut, settling into the comfortable bed. _Maybe I'll take a nap..._ That thought was interrupted when my iPhone vibrated in my pocket. Groaning, I dug it out and found that the caller ID was just an unfamiliar phone number. I frowned and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Bella?" _Oh my God. He's calling me. Why is he calling me? _"I'll be picking you up for school tomorrow," he continued without waiting for me to say anything, "because Jacob called me and told me he's sick."

Well, that answered _that _question.

_Well, dear Upper East Siders, we have ourselves a dilemma. And what a fine dilemma it is, too. So many questions, so little time for them to be answered..._

_Why has E latched onto J? Why exactly is J letting E latch onto him? What does B think of this? Where did E come from, anyway? What happens when B's parents come back into town? Who is B going to choose at the end of all this drama? _

_Only time will tell, as I've said many times in the past. _

_Spotted: __**E**__ standing in front of the Jackson Memorial Park sign, waiting for someone. Question is, who? __**J **__and __**B **__buying drinks on the walk home from school. __**A **__and __**R, **__sharing ice cream with their other halves on the steps of the Met. And two unidentified girls taking pictures of E with their camera phones. It's stalker syndrome, taking over the minds of the young and uninformed. Beware, my friends._

_xoxo,_

_Gossip Girl_

* * *

**I think you should all tell me your favourite line in a review. Because that would be nice of you. And nice people get good karma coming back at them. :)**


	4. Chapter 3

_**Summer Girl**_

**Chapter Three**

I stood in the lobby of my apartment building, staring apprehensively at the doors. Somewhere out on the street, Edward was waiting for me.

The question was, did I really want to sit in his limo with him all the way to Constance? He was bound to want to talk to me, and I didn't want to talk to him at all. Hence, the ride would be pointless except in delivering me safely to the school, which could happen anyway. It was already too late to walk, but I had my own limo, God damn it.

So I have no idea what possessed me to walk out onto the sidewalk, yet I did.

And there he was, looking just like the first time I'd seen him in Manhattan, complete with the St. Jude's uniform with his thumbs tucked neatly into the pockets of the blazer and the lean against the limo. He was even looking around for someone—me this time, I realized.

I sighed and walked over to him. His eyes lit up when he saw me and he smiled broadly. "Good morning," he said, opening the limo door for me.

"It's never a good morning when it involves you," I mumbled, getting into the limo, followed closely by Edward.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing."

The door shut behind us and we began to move. It was at least a thirty minute drive to Constance and I was going to have to listen to him try to talk to me the entire way—or was I? I peered at Edward cautiously to see him gazing casually out the window. He lazily turned his head toward me and smiled, no doubt planning to say something now. _No, please don't do it, please don't do it..._

"So," –_no, he did it! Why me?—_"I expected you not to show up. What made you change your mind about me?"

"What makes you think I've changed my mind?" I snapped. God, he was annoying me already.

"You showed up," he explained, seemingly unfazed by my attitude. "That indicates some sort of change, at least."

I huffed and stared straight ahead, ignoring him. He was silent for a moment before saying quietly, "Why didn't you come last night?"

I started to shift my eyes around nervously, turning to look out the window. That was definitely a question I did not want to answer. "Oh, um..." I tried to stall for time. "Er... oh, look at that!" I pointed out the window. He slid down the leather seat and peered out of my side of the car.

"I don't see anything."

"Well, we must have driven past it already..." I glanced out the window theatrically. "Yeah, it's gone." It was only then that I noticed how much closer he was to me. His knees were almost touching mine; if either of us moved a centimetre, they _would _be touching._ Maybe that wasn't such a good plan..._

Edward had an apprehensive look on his face as he stared at me. "Are you—"

"What's your favourite colour?" I interrupted.

"Blue," he answered, looking more confused now. "Bella—"

"Oh, blue's nice. I like the colour blue too. It's the colour of the ocean, and the sky, and..." I trailed off, unable to think of something else blue quickly.

"Dumpsters?" Edward added, frowning.

I blinked. "Not exactly what I was thinking, but okay..." He shrugged and shot me a mind-wiping grin. I continued to blink as if that would bring my coherent thought back.

"Bella, why is it that you keep trying to avoid the question?"

"Do you like M&M's?" I asked, completely ignoring him.

"Only the red ones. Bella, shut up and listen to me." He was starting to get annoyed now. _Good, he's been annoying me ever since he showed up here. _But I had to admit that I was running out of things to distract him with—or rather, he was getting too pissed to distract.

"Isn't liking the red ones more of a Smarties thing? Since you're supposed to be eating them last or whatever, you know. And besides, all the different colours of M&M's taste the same anyway, so I don't see—" My blabbering was cut short by the loud smack of Edward's fist on the seat beside him.

"God damn it, Bella, _shut up._"

"There's no reason to be harming the poor limo," I reasoned.

He glared at me. "There wouldn't be a reason to if you'd just answer my question," he hissed.

"Well, um..." Shit, I had no way out of this one... except... "I think I'll walk from here," I said hastily, throwing the limo door open and jumping out. I slammed the door behind me and weaved through the traffic parked at the red light to the sidewalk. I reached it just as the light turned green again and the vehicles all began to move. I sighed in relief. That car ride was obviously not a good idea from the start.

I started to walk down the sidewalk, checking my watch to see that traffic had been moving pretty swiftly, which meant that I was almost all the way to Constance—though I had better walk pretty fucking fast if I didn't want to be late.

I made it to my first period English class with only a moment to spare, sliding into my seat just as the bell rang. I breathed yet another sigh of relief.

"All right, class," Mr. Mason said. "I need all of your papers on my desk right now or you're getting a zero grade."

There was a flurry of movement in the room as everyone started to crowd around, trying to get to the desk to put down their papers. I sat stock still, not moving an inch.

I had left my bag in Edward's limo.

And the assignment had been in it.

It was worth thirty percent of this term's English mark.

I was screwed.

"Has everyone handed in their paper? Last call," Mr. Mason waved the stack of papers at the room. I buried my head in my hands. How could this be happening to me?

I heard the door swing open with a bang, and I looked up to see Edward striding toward me with a grim look on his face, holding my brown Prada bag. Everyone in the class erupted in whispers, staring at him making his way across the room. Mr. Mason tried to intercept him halfway, but Edward ignored him, continuing on his direct path. When he reached me he flashed me a huge smile and held the bag out to me. I took it from him, still stunned by his entrance.

And with that, he turned around and walked right back the way he'd come, closing the door behind him gently. I blinked, and then hastily dug in my bag, pulling out the paper. I got up, mumbling, "Um, I've still got to hand in my paper," and walking over to Mr. Mason, handing it to him and high-tailing it back to my seat.

"Miss Swan," he called out as I sat down again, "I trust this won't happen again?"

I blushed. "No, sir, it won't."

"Glad to hear it," he said, tucking the stack of papers into his briefcase. "If you have not handed in your paper, you officially have a zero percent mark. Now, let's begin..." He turned to the blackboard, still chattering away. I tuned him out, thinking instead of how Edward had come to my rescue.

Through the rest of the day, it seemed as if all anyone talked about was Edward, Edward, Edward. Every corner I turned there was another bunch of girls, whispering and giggling. It annoyed me to no end, but I also learned a lot of shit I may or may not have wanted to know about Edward, such as the fact that he was really smart, apparently, and he was shy around the other guys at St. Jude's. One girl complained that when she'd tried to talk to him he'd just brushed by her without saying anything. Many other girls empathized, but I wished I could be the one he just brushed by without saying a word to.

I didn't know what possessed Edward to want to talk to me so badly. As we'd said before our night even began, we were never going to see each other again, and thus there would be no need to discuss it with anyone, anywhere. To me, that included between us. Part one of that deal had been broken, but that didn't mean part two wasn't still in place. I didn't want to talk about it, even with him. I wanted to know why the hell he was here, of course, but the rumours were not worth hanging around him—I didn't want to know_ that_ badly. Jake and I had faced the summer and put it behind us; it was just too bad that part of the summer kept showing up in front of me, where I did _not_ want him.

I sat on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and pulled out my iPhone. I suddenly felt guilty for barely even thinking of Jacob today, so I'd decided to call him and see how he was doing, maybe even if he was up for visitors. A little chicken soup and couch time was sure to cure him in no time.

He picked up on the second ring with a raspy "Hey."

"Hey Jake. How're ya feeling?"

He groaned. "Terrible. But I bet you could make it better," he hinted.

I smiled into the phone. "So you're up for visitors? Not too terribly contagious?"

"Oh... I probably am contagious. Maybe you should stay away." I could tell from his tone of voice that he was only half serious.

"And this only just occurred to you? No, I'm coming over with movies and soup. See you soon."

"Thanks, Bells. You know I love you."

"No problem. Love you too." I ended the call and got up from my perch on the steps, heading for the nearest Blockbuster. Once there, I headed straight for the horror movie section—I knew it would cheer Jake up to make fun of the bad staging and props. When I had finished renting the movies, I started for a bakery in the direction of Jake's house that I'd never been to before. I'd heard it was good, though, so I figured now was as good a time as ever to go check it out.

The little bell on the door tinkled when I walked in, and I smiled nostalgically. Automatic doors didn't make that sound, so it was something I associated with small businesses like this one, the kind I'd always loved.

But this time, as I walked through the door, I was met not with the sight of friendly little rows upon rows of baked goods, but Edward, tapping his fingers idly on the countertop as he no doubt waited for his order. I froze, debating whether or not to dash back out the door. I debated a moment too long—Edward turned around and spotted me.

_He's not really the stalker here, now is he? _A little voice in my mind murmured at me. I firmly told it to shut up, noted that I was going insane, and walked unsteadily up to the counter.

"Hello, Bella," Edward said.

"Hi," I replied, staring at the countertop. The guy working the counter came over and I ordered chicken noodle soup and some doughnuts. When I had paid and the guy had run off, Edward spoke again.

"What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"Oh, um, just taking Jake some soup and such." I fidgeted with the plastic bag that held the rented movies.

"That's nice of you. It's nice of you to actually answer my questions, too, I wasn't expecting that one."

"Well maybe you should just not expect anything! It sure would be more helpful in our current predicament!"

"And what predicament is that?"

"The one where you keep showing up where I am and attempting to talk to me about things best left buried. You made friends with Jacob—what's that supposed to mean? Using him to get to me is a bit low, don't you think? What are you going to do when someone asks Jake why he's hanging out with the person I cheated on him with? And don't even get me started on the reason you're even here at all!" I fumed, my voice growing louder with every word.

"I told you that I wanted to explain, but you didn't show up," Edward pointed out. I nearly growled.

"Do you know how stupid it would be for us to be seen together? Practically everyone _but _Jake follows Gossip Girl. You're only lucky you were able to get to him."

Edward looked genuinely sorry for a moment before he opened his mouth again. "I didn't mean to disrupt your life, you know. It's not my fault."

I slapped him. It was just absurd to me that he could even think like that. If he didn't want to disrupt my life, he sure could try a little harder. "Your own actions are always your fault," I spat, grabbing my paper bag off the counter and stalking out of the bakery.

I waved the hand I'd hit Edward with in the air as I walked, blowing on it. It fucking stung, but it had been worth it.

I managed to enter Jake's apartment relatively calm, though I was still a bit pissed off. Jake got up from the couch when he saw me and came over to hug me. I hugged him back awkwardly. That was strange—awkward had never been a word you could describe Jake and me with.

"I missed you," Jake murmured into my hair.

I pushed him away gently. "You missed me? It hasn't even been a day!" I didn't know why I was reacting like this, normally I'd consider that something amazingly sweet to say.

Jake didn't even seemed fazed by my tone of voice, just shrugging and saying, "You are my life, you know." His eyes travelled down my body, coming to rest on the bags in my hand. "What'd you bring?"

I motioned for him to sit back down on the couch. He obeyed, stretching himself out so that he took up the entire couch. I rolled my eyes and sat on the space in front of him, taking the movies out of their bag and handing them to him. He nodded approvingly and set them down beside himself on the couch, eyeing the soup that was now in my hands.

"That for me?" he asked.

I nodded. "Obviously." I handed him the styrofoam bowl and a plastic spoon. He dug in, mumbling something about love. I watched him, adjusting my position so that I was leaning against the opposite arm of the couch to him.

He stopped mid-spoonful and asked, "Are you going to put the movie in?"

"Yeah, I guess I will," I replied, getting up and doing so. Everything Jake said seemed to be pissing me off further and I wasn't sure why. I knew he wasn't trying to be controlling, he was just making a suggestion.

I settled back into the couch, sighing, and pulled one of the doughnuts out of the paper bag. Jacob immediately set his soup aside and said perkily, "Got one of those for me?"

"No, Jacob, I'm going to eat them both." I'd meant to say it in a joking tone, but it came across more annoyed than anything.

Jacob winced. "Really?"

"No," I said, instantly feeling sorry. "But you should finish your soup first."

He sighed and went back to his soup, occasionally snorting into it and pointing out some particularly stupid looking graphic on the screen. I only nodded where normally I would have laughed, still brooding over the situation with Edward.

"Toss me the bag, will you?" Jake asked when he was done the soup. I obliged, staring at the TV screen as I did so. Jake caught it and dug his doughnut out, immediately taking a gigantic bite.

"You keep eating it like that and it'll be gone before you know it," I pointed out.

Jake frowned. "Bella, what's wrong with you today?"

I instantly became defensive. "Nothing's wrong with me. I just... I need to go home. Feel better, okay?" I got up off the couch and grabbed my bag, pecking Jacob on the forehead and heading for the door.

Jake sat up and twisted around so that he could see me. "What the hell, Bella?" he asked, confused.

But I was already letting the door shut behind me.

* * *

**Favourite line(s)? :)**


	5. Chapter 4

**_Summer Girl_**

**Chapter Four**

For the past two weeks I hadn't seen much of Edward—in fact, I'd never seen him. I had been staying home most of the time, trying not to put myself in any circumstance where I could possibly meet up with him. I'd even gone so far as to try and back out of the NYCSD Science Department Field Day, which I knew Edward would be attending. My attempts had been unsuccessful, and that was how I found myself in the Natural History Museum, wandering aimlessly and dodging behind displays or people whenever I spotted a St. Jude's uniform.

I decided to meander away from the crowds of students and teachers, heading for the bottom floor, which most of the others didn't seem to be too interested in doing just yet. I hoped that meant that there would be no people from St. Jude's down here.

I walked aimlessly and soon found myself standing in the mineral section, surrounded by rocks. I scanned them as I moved, noting the ones I recognized and looking at the labels for the ones I didn't just to pass the time—and then I bumped into something.

Or rather, someone. Edward's hands wrapped around my upper arms, steadying me. I was too stunned to speak and I was sure I was blushing. His hands dropped and he smiled tentatively.

"Hey," he breathed out, hesitantly smiling wider.

"Why does it seem like you're everywhere I go?" I stammered, growing more and more upset.

He stayed silent for a few moments, his smile dropping into a frown immediately. "What happened to you?" he asked sombrely, shaking his head slightly.

"Excuse me?"

"You're nothing like I remember," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"How am I different?" I didn't exactly think I'd changed all that much in two weeks.

His eyes widened slightly and he looked down at the ground, then up at the ceiling before saying, "It might be the florescence down here."

I snorted. "That makes no sense whatsoever. What kind of logic are you using?"

He shrugged. "None, obviously."

"You got that right," I mumbled, starting to make my way around him.

He grabbed one of my arms again, saying quickly, "No, Bella, wait."

I stopped and turned. "What are you under the impression that I need to hear about, anyway?"

"I thought you might like to know where I came from," he said simply.

I raised my eyebrows. "Africa?"

He didn't look surprised at my knowledge. "Yes. But before I lived in Africa, I lived here in New York City. My father works for Doctors Without Borders and my mother is a Professor of Anthropology at Columbia, so she wanted to go out to Africa to do some studies. I stayed with my father in the summer while my mother came back to teach, and with her for the winter when she returned."

"Why did you move back?"

"My mother finished all of the studies she wanted to do," he said simply.

"Must have been a great life," I commented, probing for more information.

He sighed. "You could say that. But moving around constantly doesn't give you much time to make friends, so it was pretty lonely."

"Oh," I mumbled. That would explain why he was shy.

We stood there awkwardly for a moment, Edward's expression oddly hopeful looking. As I watched, it slowly turned to a disappointed frown as he obviously decided that I had no other response to his past. He sighed again.

"Why are you down here anyway?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, um, I'm..." Well, shit. I couldn't very well tell him I'd been trying to avoid him. "...very interested in rocks and minerals. They're really, erm, interesting, you know?" I started to back away from him. "I should get back and find my school. See you!" I turned on my heel and walked away as fast as I could without running. I slowed down once I reached the elevators and checked over my shoulder. Edward hadn't followed me, not that I'd particularly expected him to.

Though, with him, you never knew what to expect.

I leaned against a wall and took deep breaths, trying to regain a normal breathing pattern. Once I'd succeeded, I decided to head back in the direction of where I'd run into Edward. He would probably be gone by now.

Wandering aimlessly yet again, I spotted what was obviously the underwater section up ahead. I'd always been fascinated by sea animals, and just the sea in general, so I made a beeline for it.

I froze just before I reached the area. I'd spotted Edward, looking intently at one of the stuffed sea animals. _Damn, why is he in every single place that I go to? And something I actually want to look at, too! _I hovered in place for a moment, trying to decide whether it would be worth another run-in with Edward to see the exhibit or not. I decided I could always come back later, when he was gone, and turned to go.

Unfortunately, as I turned, I tripped over my own feet and nearly went flying, only just catching myself before I fell, and making a grunting noise. When I straightened up, Edward was looking in my direction. He noticed me looking back and lifted one hand in a wave before walking over to me. I didn't move, choosing not to run childishly, and not to make the contact happen any sooner.

"Hey there," he said jokingly when he reached me. "Did you have a nice fall?"

"Hardy-har-har," I said sarcastically, crossing my arms. _Borderline childishness, Bella, _I chided myself, uncrossing my arms.

He paid no mind to my seemingly random movements and asked, "What brings you to this section?"

I raised an eyebrow. "The lure of the sea life. What brings _you _here?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment before he broke out his gigantic smile again and said, "The same thing, I suppose. Also, I had a feeling you'd be back this direction."

"So you admit to intentionally stalking me?"

"No," he said calmly. "I just thought I might need to save you from your own clumsiness. In fact, I think I may need to stick with you for the rest of this trip, how about that?"

"Um, no, thank you. I can take care of myself. I've been doing it for longer than I've known you."

"I don't think so..." he said quietly, smiling sadly.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Never mind, I still don't trust it. I better stick with you." I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off with "It'll make me feel better. Please?"

I sighed. "Fine. Lead the way." I gestured to the open aisle in front of me.

He shook his head. "No, you lead. That way, I'll see if you're going to trip."

I rolled my eyes and began to walk. After a few steps I looked back to see that he was standing perfectly still, just watching me. "Are you checking out my ass, Cullen? I'm not going to walk in front of you if that's all you're doing."

"Wha...? Oh!" He hurried to catch up with me. "I wasn't checking you out. I was merely thinking about how easy it was to get you to agree to look around the museum with me. You barely put up a fight." He sounded awed, as if he'd never expected me to agree in a million years.

I laughed awkwardly. "Sure you were."

"I was!" he protested.

I rolled my eyes again. "I believe you, don't worry. And, for your information, I've decided that you'd just end up wherever I go anyway."

Edward chuckled. "Well then, doesn't it seem like we should be together?"

"Maybe," I mumbled.

We walked quietly for a moment or two before he asked, "So, do you go to that cafe often? Blu's, I think it's called?"

"Yeah," I replied shortly.

He seemed put out that I didn't elaborate more and said, "I haven't been there very many times, but it seems nice. Do you think the food there is good?"

"Mhm, it is."

He looked at me with a perplexed expression, as if he wasn't quite sure what to do with me. He waited a few moments, as if expecting me to say more, then sighed. "I'll have to actually try the food there, then. I've really only had iced tea there. That one--"

"You do realize you're practically carrying on a conversation with yourself?" I interrupted his tirade.

He shrugged. "Well, sure, but I was hoping you'd join in at some point."

"And if I didn't?"

"I guess I was just going to have a nice long conversation with myself. I had a lot of topics lined up, believe me."

"Such as?" I asked curiously.

He grinned. "Well, next was what classes I'm taking in school, then it was going to be if I was interested in the exhibit we happened to be passing at that point in time, and then—"

"Okay, that's enough. I'm glad I stopped you."

Abruptly, Edward turned so that he was standing in front of me and grabbed my shoulders lightly, forcing me to stop walking. "Why _are_ you stopping me?" he whispered, and I knew he wasn't talking about the conversation. I stood there, unable to think of a response, just staring at him. He sighed and dropped his arms. "We're at the end of the exhibit. How about we actually look?"

I looked around to see that we were, in fact, at the end of the Human Origins section—on the other side of the museum from where we'd started. I hadn't even realized we'd walked so far.

Edward had already vacated the space in front of me and was off looking at something. "Hey Bella! Did you know..."

He trailed off and I walked around the exhibit to where I could actually see him, asking, "Did I know what?"

"Hey Bella," a tall guy that I didn't know sneered. Edward was stiffly backing toward me in a protective stance. I moved to the side to get a better look at the guy and his friends. They were all wearing St. Jude's uniforms and the same mocking sneer. I grimaced. _Greasers._

"Um, hello," I replied.

"We heard you fucked some guy over the summer but still sleep around with Jake. That true?" the same guy asked, taking a step closer to me.

I took half a step back. "Er..."

The guy didn't wait for an answer. "We were thinking, you know, since you're so willing and all, that you wouldn't mind hanging out with us sometime."

"Um..." I struggled to find my voice to tell them to fuck off, but couldn't manage to do anything except concentrate on breathing properly.

"She's a bit busy," Edward said fiercely, stepping in between me and the creep.

The creep continued to try and force his way past Edward, his beady eyes focused on me and not on the person blocking his way. When he finally decided he wasn't getting past, he stood back and glared, still focusing on me. "You fucking her, too, man? It's nice to share, c'mon." His friends laughed and nodded from behind him.

I could practically feel the anger coming off Edward's body. It seemed the creeper finally realized something, too, because his eyes slid off me and onto Edward. At that moment, Edward launched himself at the guy and knocked him to the ground, smacking his head on the floor. The creep was obviously not a bad fighter though, because he immediately flipped it so that Edward was pressed to the floor and punched him straight on the nose. There was a sickening crunch and the creeper got up off the ground, grumbling something I couldn't hear and wiping his hand on his pants.

"Let's go, guys," he said, looking down at Edward with a disgusted expression. His friend started to amble away and he began to follow before he looked back at me and said, "Don't think we've forgotten about you, Bella." He winked and then turned to go.

I stared after them a moment before shuddering and looking back at Edward. He was sitting up now, holding onto his nose. I ran over to him and crouched down to his level. "Are you okay? What the fuck did you do that for?"

Edward coughed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand, smearing blood across it. "I told you that you were going to need protection."

I frowned. "You said you were protecting me from myself. That's not myself, that's a gang of creeps that could have done much worse." He didn't say anything, just picked up the end of his tie and put it over his nose. I snorted. "You still haven't told me why the fuck you did it, you know."

"I figured it was obvious. I didn't like them talking to you like that," he mumbled, his voice muffled by the tie covering his face.

I rocked back onto my heels and made a perplexed face. "Are you trying really hard, or is that just me?"

Edward looked up at me, surprise in his eyes. "I don't recall trying hard..."

"I think you have a bad memory, then. The real question is, _why_ are you trying so hard?" I pursed my lips and tilted my head to the side questioningly.

He continued to look up at me, blinking rather stupidly. "Uh..."

I waited for a few more endless moments of continuous 'uh'ing before I shook my head and said, "I think he knocked your brains out as well as snapping your nose."

To my surprise, Edward laughed, however messed up the noise sounded coming from him, with his broken nose. "You always were really funny when you got nervous."

"How do _you _know that?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

He blinked a few times in a row rapidly, then widened his eyes and stared at me with what was surely supposed to be an innocent expression. "Uh..."

"Oh, shut it. I don't want to hear any more noise from you unless it's actual words that one can deduce _meaning _from!"

"You always were feisty, too," he muttered, barely audible.

"What did you say?"

"I didn't _say_ anything," he insisted quickly.

"You are so..." I couldn't even think of a word to describe him.

"Sexy," Edward completed.

"Conceited," I shot back.

"I can't deny it," he said, shrugging.

I shook my head at him disdainfully. "Is your nose going to be okay?" I asked, changing the subject.

He took the tie off his nose, wincing, and turned his head in my direction. "What do you think?"

"Well..." His tie was so completely soaked with blood that I couldn't even see the yellow stripes anymore, and his nose... I was pretty sure it was going to need a little help to be straightened out. "You need a new tie and a doctor. I think maybe it stopped bleeding, though. A bit."

"That's your verdict?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded.

"I would snort, but that's not the best idea right now."

I rolled my eyes and rose to a standing position, offering Edward my hand. He sat there looking at it for awhile before he raised his hands and said, "You sure you want to be covered in my blood?"

I dropped my hand to my side. "Well, fine then. Help yourself up."

Edward put his hands down on the floor and pushed himself up. I looked down at the floor and noted the presence of two faint, but noticeable bloody handprints on the ground, as well as a couple other spatterings of blood. "What are you planning to do about that?"

He looked down and shrugged. "Nothing. The janitor can clean it up."

I nodded. "Fair point..." I looked back up at him. "Do you think we should go find a teacher or something?"

"Good plan. Lead the way." He made a sweeping gesture forward.

"Maybe you should keep your hands on your nose," I suggested, beginning to walk in the direction of the main entrance. Edward followed right behind me. He didn't say anything in reply, but he did keep his hands securely on his nose after that. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw him trying to put it back into place by himself, but he stopped when he noticed me watching and smiled sheepishly.

"I know all I'm doing is making it worse," he attempted to excuse himself.

"So... why would you be doing it then?"

"No idea."

I snorted. "You have good reasoning for everything, don't you?"

"I like to think so," he mumbled.

We made it to the main entrance faster than I thought we would and stood by the doors awkwardly. "Um... " I began.

"Oh, there's the principal of my school," Edward interrupted, pointing at a burly man who was walking toward us with a grim expression.

"Hey, Mr Smithers," Edward greeted when the principal was within earshot. I laughed internally at the absurd name.

"Mr Cullen. What are you and Miss Swan doing standing here?" I was surprised that he knew my name—but then again, who didn't?

"Actually, we were looking for a teacher," I said. "Edward here broke his nose, and I think it needs medical attention."

Mr Smithers looked intently at Edward's face, and then nodded to himself. "Well, come on then, Cullen. We'll get someone to take you to the hospital. Miss Swan, I suggest you find the rest of your school. It's almost time to go home."

I nodded and turned to go only to be stopped by Edward's hand gripping the top of my arm.

"What?" I asked impatiently.

"Just wanted to let you know..." he leaned down closer to my ear, "I _was_ checking out your ass earlier."

And then he was gone, following Mr Smithers. I shook my head.

_He's a perv _and _he just left a nice bloodstain on my blazer._

_Fan-fucking-tastic._

_Things are getting iffy on the Upper East Side. Take that lovely field trip today. I'm sure you all just wandered around, bored as hell, wondering when it would end. But two of our favourite people were up to something._

_Found in the back of the Human Origins section of the museum: blood on the floor. Question is, whose? Rumours say it's E's, lost in a battle to save B's honour._

_What is there between E and B? Only two people can answer that question—and sadly, I'm not one of them._

_And where has J been all day? For all I know, he's looking for that elusive pot of gold that's supposedly under the rainbow. Use your imagination, sweethearts. Everyone's got one. _

_xoxo,_

_Gossip Girl _

_

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_

**This story updates every second Friday (or "every other Friday". Whichever. It means the same thing). If you want an update every Friday, you have to read Miss Universe Pageant as well, which is this weird fic about Bella fighting off aliens while dressed in a swimsuit. :) Edward's in it somewhere, too.**

**Review, please. Tell me your favourite line(s), maybe. xD**


	6. Chapter 5

**Summer Girl**

**Chapter Five**

Calculus. One of the worst parts of my day. I may be a smart student, but I never was one for any sort of math.

I sighed and shifted in my seat, staring blankly at whatever Mr Varner was scrawling on the board. All of a sudden, the door swung open and in walked Edward, heading directly toward me. He sat down in the desk in front of me, turning to face me and grinning. "Uh... what the hell?" I asked as the class gathered around us.

As I watched, Edward seemed to become younger and younger. I looked down at myself to see that I was shrinking as well, becoming a little version of myself. I glanced back up at Edward, who was still grinning at me—only he was only about five now. My eyes widened as a shrill beeping noise cut through the air. Edward seemed oblivious to it, but it grew persistently louder and louder, nagging at my ears, until...

"Oh shit," I mumbled, sitting straight up in bed and bringing my hand smack down on top of the alarm clock's snooze button as I did so. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and stumbled to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

My mind was in a haze as I showered, but as I stepped out into the chill bathroom air, my head began to clear, and by the time I was fully dressed and standing in front of the sink, brushing my teeth, I was able to think clearly.

Sadly, even then, my only thought was _what the fuck was that? I need to stop eating burritos before I go to bed._

I sighed and spat into the sink, shaking my head.

~*~

The dream lingered, against my will, in the back of my head for the rest of the day. The whole situation with Edward pissed me off, and I preferred to just _not _think about it, but my mind wouldn't let me. It was irritating as hell, and by the end of the day, I was about ready to bite anyone who came near me's head off.

This is why the person who dared call me not five minutes after the final bell got a snappish, "Bella is currently dying, leave a God damn message," delivered straight into their ear.

"Uh, Bells?" Jake asked timidly. "Is everything all right?"

I sighed. "I'm fine. What's up?"

"Nothing, just wondering if you wanted to go out for dinner tonight. It's been awhile since we've been out, and our two year anniversary is coming up..."

"Sure, Jake. That's really thoughtful of you."

"Great! I'll have the car pick you up around six thirty, then. Love you, Bella," he said cheerfully.

"Love you, too," I replied before ending the call.

I stood on the sidewalk outside Constance and looked at my phone, contemplating what to do. I decided it would be a good idea to call Rose and Alice and ask them if they wanted to help me get ready for my date—as long as I was spending time with people I hadn't been spending much time with lately, I may as well include everyone.

I flicked through my recent calls list, looking for Rose. I spotted her right below a call from , but just before I was about to hit call, I noticed Edward's number right below Rose's. My thumb hovered over the screen as I contemplated calling Edward, just to see what he was doing. Maybe I could ask him if he found any significance in that dream I'd had...

I shook my head and hit call on Rose's number, putting my phone up to my ear. I listened to it ring patiently, starting to walk down the street toward my house.

"Hello?" I froze in the middle of the sidewalk at the sound of Edward's voice in my ear. I lowered the phone and glanced at the screen to see that I'd called Edward instead of Rose. _Shit._ "Hello?" Edward persisted. I hit end, my heart beating wildly.

I breathed a sigh of relief and decided that maybe I should just get ready on my own instead.

~*~

By six thirty I was standing outside my apartment building, waiting for Jake to get there. I was kind of cold, mostly owing to the fact that I was wearing a knee length deep blue Marc Jacobs number with my silver flats, and I wished it were still summer. The more I thought about it, the more steadfast I became in that wish. I wished I could go back and change the night that Edward had, for lack of a better word, seduced me. I wished that if that were not possible, that he could have at least kept his promise that I'd never see him again.

I sighed in exasperation and wrapped my arms around myself, rubbing my upper arms in an attempt to warm up just as the car rolled up in front of me. I hastily pulled open the back door and slid in, waving off the driver's attempts to stop me. Jacob grinned lazily at me from across the backseat.

"Hey, Bella," he said.

"Hi, Jake," I replied, smoothing out my dress over my knees as the town car began to move again. "Where are we going?"

"Oh, it's this cute little fancy restaurant I found. You'll love it," he assured me.

"If you say so," I agreed, nodding.

We arrived in due time and were seated in a secluded little spot in the restaurant, which was, surprisingly, quite nice. When had Jacob acquired actual good taste?

I had opened the menu and was scanning the lists for something vaguely edible when Jake prodded me in the forearm and pointed over my shoulder. "Isn't that Edward Cullen?" he asked.

I looked over my shoulder to see Edward standing at the entrance, waiting for the hostess to come seat him. A pang of some emotion—shock?—went through me; not at his presence, but at who was with him.

Standing at his side, clinging on to his shoulder as though it were her lifeline and whispering into his ear, was a tall girl with layered red hair, not unlike the colour of Edward's, wearing a pair of ripped up black skinny jeans and a band T-shirt, along with red Chucks. Her bangs hung in her eyes, which were heavily outlined with eyeliner, and I could see a lip piercing glinting in the dim light.

I turned back to Jacob and mumbled, "Yep, that's Edward."

"Who's that with him? I've never seen her before," he mused. "She's kind of hot."

I glared at him.

"Nothing compared to you, of course," Jake amended.

I sighed and went back to looking at the menu. Jacob was right, in any case—the girl was hot. But why was Edward out with her? Were they dating? What had happened to stalking me? For some reason, she didn't seem like Edward's type.

Then again, who was I to say what Edward's type was?

The same emotion I'd felt when I'd first seen the two standing at the restaurant entrance continued to haunt me as they were led past our table and to a booth even farther back in the restaurant. I puzzled over what it was for a long time as Jacob continued to hold a conversation with himself about how scrumptious the menu looked.

I finally pinpointed it just as the waitress came up to take our order. I was jealous of the punk girl with Edward. I sighed to myself—you'd think I could recognize my own jealousy quicker, given how much I'd been feeling that way lately, but I was as emotionally incompetent as ever.

After we'd ordered—Jacob giving the waitress explicit instructions and me just pointing to a random thing on the menu distractedly—I excused myself to go to the washroom. Jacob nodded and I headed off in the direction of the washroom—but when I reached a point where I knew Jacob couldn't see me anymore, I turned and started to go around and back, towards the booth where Edward and Punk Rock Chick sat.

As I crept up on their table, I heard snippets of conversation.

"God, don't you remember how fun that was?!"

"Ha! It's been so long. I do remember, though. God, what a ride that was."

I halted and felt my body go a little cold, a sweat breaking out for some reason. I froze against the wall and pushed my back against it, listening intently as their words came in mumbles.

"Oh yeah, it was _so_ hard, but definitely worth it. You don't get it like that anymore!"

I gasped and my mind began to race, desperate to know what they were talking about. I couldn't imagine why I felt the strike of fury as I imagined Edward and _that girl_ ... together. Naked. Touching.

I shuddered and willed the thoughts away.

"But it's always over so fast!" I heard the girl complain, and I choked on a cough, nearly falling over. Instead, I caught myself and found myself flung over, hands gripping the booth where Edward and the girl sat.

"Bella?" Edward asked with confusion in his voice.

I cleared my throat and giggled nervously. "Yep, yep, hi."

"What are you doing over here?"

"Well, um, you see, I'm here with Jake, you know, my boyfriend? And I noticed you over here and I thought I'd come say hi, and uh, ask to be introduced to this lovely girl!" I giggled a bit again, trying to ease the tension, but both Edward and Punk Rock Chick kept staring at me blankly.

Edward blinked and shook his head. "Well, Bella, this is Nessie." I stuck out my hand politely as Nessie smiled up at me, seemingly attempting to wipe the blank look off her face. _She's probably annoyed that I interrupted their sex talk._

"Hi, Bella," Nessie said. "I'm Edward's cousin, as he so nicely left out."

_His cousin? Well, shit. They better not have been getting it on, then._

"Oh, cool," I said, trying to be nonchalant. "That would explain the... same coloured hair."

Nessie smirked and nodded. "Yeah."

Edward coughed. "Nessie and I were just talking about that old amusement park that closed down. That one on the north side? Do you remember it?"

I shook my head blankly.

"Huh. Well, the rollercoaster was to die for."

Suddenly it all became clear to me.

They weren't talking about sex.

They were talking about _roller coasters._

I felt like a fucking idiot.

I opened my mouth, intending to stammer out something unintelligible before running away as fast as possible, but a hand on the small of my back stopped me.

"Bella, honey," Jake's voice said from next to me, "what are you doing?"

I looked up at him and shrugged. "I came over here to say hi to Edward."

Jacob nodded. "Uh huh. But Edward and his girlfriend probably want to enjoy their dinner in peace, kinda like I wanted to enjoy ours, so—"

"Oh, Nessie's not Edward's girlfriend," I said, cutting Jake off. "She's his cousin."

"Oh," Jake said, pulling me closer to his side. "Well, our food should be coming soon, so we better get back to the table." He began to steer me away from their booth, but Edward stopped him abruptly.

"Hey, Bella, wait," he said hurriedly.

I stopped walking. "Yeah?"

"Did you call me earlier?" he asked.

"Yeah, I accidently called you instead of Rosalie," I forced out shakily. "Why?"

Edward shrugged. "I just wondered if it was about anything important or not."

"Oh. Well, it wasn't, so don't worry." I immediately felt stupid the moment my words left my lips. He probably wasn't worrying anyway, making my statement completely worthless.

"I won't," he assured me, a smile playing on his lips.

Nessie sighed and smacked her hand down on the table. "Eddie, pay attention. Cousin to cousin time, remember?"

Jake tugged on my waist. "Come on, Bella. I think our food is ready for us." I nodded and allowed him to lead me over to the table, where our food was indeed waiting.

As we sat down to eat, thoughts ran through my head. I still couldn't comprehend why I was so jealous, but this was clearly something I was going to have to address.

I stared blankly down at my food, every once in awhile bringing the fork up to my mouth and shoving a bite in. At one point, I glanced up at Jacob to see him staring across the room, at Edward and Nessie's table. He seemed to be glaring, but his eyes shifted a tad and the emotion in them turned to sympathy. I frowned.

_And now my own boyfriend does things that don't make any sense to me._

_Does life get any worse than this?_

_

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_**Very late update, _and_ it's shorter than usual. Feel free to shoot me. I shouldn't put deadlines on myself, that means I'll inevitably miss them by miles.**

**Say thank you to Leon. :)**


	7. Chapter 6

_**Summer Girl  
**_**Chapter Six**

_Hello Upper East Siders, GG here. _

_And, boy, do I have news. _

_B and J went on a date at one of the top restaurants for fine dining last night—and who did they find there but the handsome E, treating his cousin, N, out for dinner and bonding time. _

_Sad part is, I don't think poor B knew N was just a cousin. I mean, there were definitely some envious looks thrown around there—even a few from J!_

_But the main point here is this: what is N up to? She can't be in the city for no reason; everyone knows N prefers to hang around on the outskirts. She is by no means an Upper East Sider._

_She's got something up the sleeve of her cheap band T-shirt, that's for sure._

_xoxo,_

_Gossip Girl_

Well after Edward and Nessie had already vacated their booth, Jake was still staring across the room with a thoughtful look on his face. I sighed and dropped my fork on my plate with a clatter.

"We should just go," I said.

Jake didn't protest, merely setting down his own cutlery and waving a random waiter over to ask him to bring the bill. We sat in silence until our waitress came back over and handed the check to Jacob, winking noticeably at him and sashaying away. I knew I should feel defensive over my boyfriend, but I didn't. I let him leave the cash tucked in the black folder while I gathered up my purse and pulled on my coat.

Jake hooked his arm into mine as we stepped out into the frigid air and led me toward his car.

"So," I began, feeling uncomfortable in the very loud silence, "did we have the peaceful dinner you were expecting?"

Jake was quiet for a minute, staring straight ahead with his lips pressed tightly together. I watched his face, attempting not to start hyperventilating from anxiety.

Finally, he glanced down at me. "It was pretty peaceful. Just not..." He took a deep breath in and looked ahead again.

"Not what?" I pressed.

"Not how I was expecting," he finished.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that there were a few imposing... _emotions_," he muttered.

We were now standing next to his car and he had dropped his hold on my arm. I furrowed my eyebrows at him. "What do you mean?" I repeated.

"For God's sake, Bella! How naive can you get?"

I stared at him blankly. "Maybe we should take a break," I blurted out.

Now he was staring blankly at me. "Where did that come from?"

"I don't know," I mumbled, shrugging.

"You want to break up just because I said you were naive?"

"No!" I protested. "I don't want to break up with you at all."

The blank look became blanker.

I looked around the street wildly, my eyes resting on Jake's driver standing just behind him, his hand on the car door. His face was stoic and professional, but I knew an act when I saw one. He was probably pretty damn amused.

"What I mean is," I stammered, pulling my eyes back to Jacob's face, "uh, you've been acting distant lately. Or I have. Whatever. Both constitute needing to, you know, take a break. Because then in our time apart we can realize our love all over again and have one of those fairy tale sappy shit moments where we run into each other's arms and sob over how much we missed each other..."

"Okay," Jacob said, a small smirk on his face. "If that's what you want."

I nodded and Jake motioned for the driver to open the door for him. I watched him start to get in, wrapping my arms around myself and shivering.

Jake looked back at me. "See you around, Bella," he said softly, waving. I nodded again.

He disappeared from view and the driver closed the door, shooting a sympathetic smile in my direction before going around to the other side of the car.

The reflections of the streetlights on the shiny black car flashed as it pulled out of its parking spot, leaving me staring down the busy street after it, still absentmindedly nodding, as if trying to convince myself that I'd done the right thing.

"Well, that was rather stupid of you, wasn't it?" a familiar voice said from behind me. I whipped around to see Edward's cousin standing behind me.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

She smirked, tossing her dark red hair over her shoulder. "It was a bad idea for you to break up with that boy, for the simple reasons that a, he's hot sex, and b, you now have no ride home."

I blinked. "I didn't break up with him."

She snorted. "You did so. Just because you called it taking a break doesn't mean it wasn't breaking up. You may notice that both terms have the word 'break' in them."

Just then my phone vibrated, and, grateful for the distraction from Nessie, I dug it out of my purse to find a text from the Gossip Girl website.

The message read_ Goodbye for good? _with a camera phone snapshot of Jacob waving at me as he got in his car. I snapped my phone shut, fuming. I looked up to see Nessie appraising her own cell phone.

"Word travels fast," she commented, putting her phone back in her purse.

I nodded indifferently, looking around the street as if I would be able to find whoever it was that sent in that tip.

"So," Nessie said, "I'm heading home. Do you want a ride?"

"Is Edward with you?" I asked, suspicious.

"No, he went home in a different car. He left that one"—she pointed toward a car three spaces down—"for me."

"Why didn't he just drop you off?"

"I live in the opposite direction of him," she explained, starting to walk toward her—at least for the night—car. "But I'm willing to make a detour for you," Nessie added, opening the car door and gesturing for me to get in.

I obliged, if only because I didn't have any better options.

We rode in silence for the first few minutes. Nessie seemed to be attempting—and not exactly failing—to stare me down from directly across from me. I avoided her looks, pretending to be looking out the window.

Nessie sighed loudly. "You're hot for Edward, aren't you?"

I snapped my head toward her, blinking rapidly. "Wha—"

"Oh, don't give me that," she snapped, cutting my reply off. "I saw the way you looked at him. And frankly, I don't think you're good enough for him." She sat back in her seat, crossing her arms and glaring at me.

I spluttered, trying to figure out what I was supposed to say to that. Who did she think she was, talking to me like that? I'm Bella fucking Swan for fuck's sake!

"Listen here, girly. Who are you to say what's good for Edward and what's not? Wouldn't you think that would be his call?"

"I'm his cousin," Nessie said coolly. "I'm allowed to judge for him what he's not capable of judging for himself."

The car rolled to a stop and I looked out to see that we were in front of my building. I made to get out, but Nessie grabbed my arm.

"By the way, you just admitted that you like him." She smirked and let my arm go, slamming the car door behind me.

I stood on the sidewalk and watched yet another black car flash into the never ceasing traffic of Manhattan, leaving me behind for the second time that night. It seemed it was always me that was being left alone, as if I didn't have enough of something to be able to keep up with the rest of the world.

Or maybe they were just going full speed ahead while I was content to live in the past.

~*~

The next day I woke, showered, and dragged my ass into the car for the ride to Constance only semi-coherent, having spent most of the night lying in bed, contemplating the events of last night. After all that thinking, I was definitely not anticipating this school day. I knew everyone would be talking about what had happened last night, thanks to that fucker of a site. I also knew that their theories would be ten times worse than my own.

The fact that I had to think up theories for what was going on in my own life said something.

Alice and Rosalie greeted me in the usual spot. Alice was as energetic as ever, while Rosalie was as standoffish as always.

"So, spill," Alice demanded immediately.

I sighed. "There's nothing to spill that hasn't already been dumped out all over the city's population."

Rose snorted. "I don't care what the stupid gossip site says, I want your version." Alice nodded feverishly.

So I told them what had happened, from seeing Edward and Nessie to taking a break to the confrontation with Nessie. When I was finished, all they could do was stare at me.

"I think you're screwed," Rose said flatly.

I groaned.

"No, no," Alice jumped in. "Who cares if Nessie knows you like Edward? It's not like you don't. I say you go after Edward."

"I'm still dating Jake," I pointed out.

"No, honey, you're not," Rose said gently. "Not officially, anyway. You're taking a break. That means you're free to play the field."

"Yeah, like that saying where if you love something, you let it free and if it comes back it's yours. That's what you're doing here," Alice piped.

I sighed. "Whatever. I'm going to class." As if on cue, the bell rang and I started up the steps.

"Call him!" Rose yelled after me.

"Soon!" Alice added.

I ignored them, along with the murmurs in the hallway that ceased when I passed. By the time I slumped into my desk, I knew the day was shaping up to be exactly what I had expected.

My morning classes went by quickly, punctuated by many glares directed by me at little freshmen discussing my love life.

It was the first class after lunch that ruined my relative composure.

Or rather, it was Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory, two complete airheads that happened to sit in front of me in the said class that did it.

"I bet she's totally in love with him," Lauren was saying as I sat down.

"Oh, she is. Too bad she's too much of an idiot to do anything about it," Jessica replied.

I wondered if they knew or cared that I was sitting behind them, obviously listening in.

"It's such a shame. If I thought I had a chance with that boy, I'd be all over him."

_You'd be all over him if he ever came within sight of you, regardless of whether you had a chance, _I thought.

Jessica nodded. "Wouldn't anyone? Well... obviously not her."

"I can't believe she ended it with Jacob, either! She had him wrapped around her finger."

"I guess once you cheat you can't exactly go back to what you had before," Jessica mused.

I couldn't take it anymore. "Would you two mind shutting the fuck up?" I whispered. "I can't hear the teacher."

They glanced at me and rolled their eyes. "Insecure," Lauren said in an undertone.

"_Be quiet!_" I shrieked.

The entire classroom fell silent and I looked around to see that I had inadvertently ended up on my feet, my hands pressed firmly against my desktop.

"Is there a problem?" the teacher asked me.

"Yeah, these two bitches sitting in front of me can't be bothered to shut the fuck up about me."

There was a collective gasp from the class and the teacher looked shocked for a moment before saying, "Ms Swan, I would like you to leave my class. This is no place for such language."

"Fine." I picked up my books and started for the door.

Just before I left, the teacher spoke again. "I think the office would be appropriate. Take this with you." She scribbled something down on a pink paper and handed it to me. I took it and then waved a hand at her dismissively and closed the door heavily behind me. I strode down the hallway, the sound of my footsteps echoing.

I arrived at the office and, not bothering to check in with the secretary, Mrs Cope, plopped down in one of the comfortable black chairs in the waiting room.

I sat there staring at my feet, which were decked out in gray and black Coach tennis shoes.

"Ms Swan?" Mrs Cope asked from behind her desk. "What are you doing here?"

"Kicked out of class," I mumbled.

"Well, go on in and talk to the principal," she said, her tone one of pity. I stood up and glared at her, wondering how much she knew. She probably followed Gossip Girl in order to feel like a student when it was definitely way past her time.

I stepped into the principal's office, closing the door quietly behind me. I stood and watched the principal stare blankly at his computer screen. I contemplated seeing how long I could stand here before he noticed me, but decided that I didn't like the thought of standing here forever and cleared my throat loudly.

His reaction was immediate and comical, his head snapping toward me as he jumped in his seat. "Ms Swan! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"The comments of two not so pleasant girls and my dirty mouth," I responded, handing him the pink slip.

He appraised it and sighed. "This is a conservative school, my dear, and your actions are not exemplary like I would hope from you. Do you understand?"

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. "Yes, sir."

"I'm going to have to give you detention for the rest of the week." I shrugged as I watched him start rifling around in the pile of papers on his desk, looking for something. "Excuse me, I need to go get a paper to fill out and have you sign." He got up and disappeared into a room behind his office. I wondered idly to myself if he realized that it was Thursday, which meant I'd only have one day of detention, two if today counted.

An idea sparked in my brain, and I leaned forward in my seat. The principal was nowhere to be seen, so I quickly got up and left the room, closing the door as quietly as I had when I came in. I waved good bye to Mrs Cope and hightailed it out of the school.

I figured I wouldn't get in any more trouble than I already had, since the principal liked my family, so I wasn't too worried about getting caught, anyway. I wandered down the street, not heading anywhere in particular.

Soon enough I found myself at the end of the sidewalk with an expanse of grass and trees in front of me. I kept going, cursing myself for not bringing a coat to school that morning.

The farther I got into the trees, the quieter it got, the noise of the traffic fading with distance. There was still the noise of the people in the park, but it was much more serene. It was a nice change from the general business that occupied my life.

I sat down on a park bench, and, with nothing else to occupy my thoughts, began to think of what Lauren and Jessica had said. Mostly I was just pissed at them because it was none of their fucking business, but could part of what they said have some truth? Was it true that since I had cheated on Jake with Edward, I couldn't go back to what it had been like before?

I supposed it was. That was the trouble. If it was possible to go back to how it had been, it would only be with the total exclusion of Edward from my life. Of course, that wasn't an option now.

It always came down to one fact: if Edward had kept his promise of never seeing me again, my life would be perfectly normal.

That was why he was such an asshole.

Also because he wouldn't tell me anything other than what everyone knew.

And what everyone already knew was not what Bella fucking Swan wanted to know.

I sighed and decided it made my head hurt too much to think about Edward. I got up off the bench and continued walking down the path.

I was almost to the other side of the park—I could see the street at the end of the trees—after a pleasant few minutes thinking of nothing but the cool air and trees surrounding me when Edward's face popped into my head, along with the realization that something smelled really good.

I pushed Edward's face out, not pausing to admire the bright sparkle of his green eyes and shiny hair—okay, I paused—and concentrated on finding the source of the smell. I had discovered that I was insanely hungry.

I finally found the source, a classic hot dog stand just a few yards from the trail I had been following. I ordered one for myself and went to dig out some money to pay for it.

Except I didn't have anything to dig it out of.

Because my purse which had my wallet and thus my money in it was back at the school, no doubt sitting in the office next to the nice black chair I had been sitting in.

_Smooth move, Bella, _I thought to myself as I shook my head at the hot dog vendor and walked away.

What a lovely, classic fuck my life moment to add to my lovely, classic fucked up life.

* * *

**...I apologize for the wait.**

**Review?**


	8. Chapter 7

_**Summer Girl**_**  
Chapter Seven**

In a drastic contrast to the summer days, the next week was freezing. I went to school, sat in class, and went home again, not once detecting a change from my perpetual temperature of _frozen_, despite my ever increasing layers of clothing and how many times I turned up the heat.

I wondered if I was somehow causing myself to be cold, like my body was trying to tell me that I was a cold, heartless bitch and needed to warm up before I froze to death. Then I decided the cold was making me delusional and dismissed the thought.

I was walking down the steps of the school on Friday, adjusting my scarf for the millionth time, when I spotted him.

Jacob was standing by the front gates of Constance, seemingly watching the front doors of the school. I looked around myself to see who he could be looking for, but I was the only one outside, having deserted the school quickly as I usually did.

Looking back at Jake, I felt an urge to go up and talk to him. Even though I was the one who had initiated the break, I found that I still missed him. For a moment, I toyed with the idea of going over to him and asking if he wanted to get back to together.

I think I would have done it, too, had it not been for the distraction of Alice and Rose appearing behind me.

"Bella!" Alice cried, obviously exasperated. "You leave the school so fast. We barely have time to talk anymore."

"We're talking now," I pointed out, shrugging.

"Only because Alice and I ran our asses off trying to catch you," Rose contradicted. "Emmett's having a party tonight, and you're coming."

"I am, am I?" I said, half amused by her assumption.

"Yes," Alice chimed in. "You are. And Rose and I are coming over to get ready."

"Right now?"

"No, tomorrow. Yes, right now!" Rose said.

"Fine," I relented. "Sounds like fun."

Alice grinned. "That's the spirit. We haven't been hanging out enough, Bella."

I nodded, agreeing with that, at least. I had mostly been acting like a zombie for the past week, and I missed the company of my friends.

We took Alice's car to my house, reliving old memories and giggling all the way. We were laughing especially hard at the time we were all at the Central Park Zoo and Emmett attempted to get the pandas to act like grizzly bears when we walked through my door to find my parents sitting at the table discussing something. I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Mom, Dad," I got out. "I wasn't expecting you to be here."

"Well, of course we're here, sweetheart. We've got a dinner party tomorrow that still doesn't have all the details finalized!" Renee exclaimed.

"Dinner party?" I asked dumbly.

"Yes, dinner party, Isabella," Charlie answered, annoyed. "We've only been planning it for the past week."

I cringed. "Oh, yeah, sorry. Blonde moment." Rose elbowed me, fingering her hair, and I hissed a sorry at her.

There was a moment of silence before Renee set in on us. "Well, girls, come on in and sit. How are you, Alice? Rosalie?"

"Oh, I'm good," Alice chirped, sitting down in the chair next to my mother, while Rose took the one next to her, and I sat down next to Charlie.

"I'm great," Rose pitched in. "Emmett's throwing a party tonight, so—"

"Oh, how _is_ Emmett? You two still going strong?" Renee interrupted excitedly.

I felt my face heat up and saw Rose's do the same. "Oh, yeah, we're good..." she answered awkwardly, shooting me a look. I shrugged helplessly at her.

"How about you and Jasper, Alice?"

"We're fantastic. I'm meeting him at the party tonight, actually."

"What about you, Bella?" my father cut in.

My face became even hotter. "Oh. Uh, I'm single," I stammered out.

"What happened to Jake?" Renee asked worriedly.

"We're taking a break."

"Oh, but he was such a nice boy..." my mother bemoaned as my father nodded his agreement.

I shrugged, getting annoyed at their prying. "It doesn't mean we won't get back together sometime," I said, standing up. "Alice and Rose and I are going to go get ready for the party now." Rose and Alice quickly stood up, following me.

My parents didn't comment as we ascended the stairs to my room. I ushered them into the bedroom and shut the door heavily behind me, leaning against it.

"God, they're annoying," I breathed out.

"No matter," Alice piped. "Clothes time!" She launched herself toward my closet, rifling her way through the hangers at a staggering speed.

Rose and I stood awkwardly, watching her, until I finally decided that she was going to be awhile and grabbed Rose's hand, pulling her toward my vanity. "Can I do your hair?" I asked, though I already had her sitting down and was running my fingers through her blonde curls.

After about a minute of my brushing of Rose's hair, she broke the silence. "I hear Edward's coming to the party tonight."

I paused for a moment, then kept brushing. "Your point?"

"Her point is that you need to make your move, girl," Alice's voice sounded from the closet.

I sighed. "I don't _want_ to make my move. I don't have a move to make."

"Are you still going on about how you're still dating Jake? Because I thought I already told you that you're not. No matter how nice of a boy he is," Rose added teasingly.

"Well, it doesn't exactly feel as though I should be doing things with other guys," I muttered, twisting Rose's hair this way and that, trying to decide how to style it.

"Didn't I say you were letting love go and seeing if it came back?" Alice asked loudly.

"That doesn't mean I should be dicking around!" I cried, exasperated.

"Oh, as if. We didn't say to go fuck the guy again, we said to talk to him," Rose pointed out.

"I believe that you said to 'make my move', actually."

"It's not our fault you interpreted that in a way that involved sex."

I twisted Rose's hair into a bun, letting a few pieces curl beside her face and pinning it into place before mumbling, "Touché."

Both Alice and Rose giggled at me, and Rose got up. "Are you about done, Alice?" she asked, wading into the pile of clothes that surrounded the closet.

"About," Alice agreed, and then stepped aside so we could see her creations.

"Whoa," I murmured.

Rose grinned. "We are going to be smashing tonight!"

~*~

My silvery blue Prada dress flowed neatly down my body as I walked into Emmett's house, flanked on either side by Alice in her poufy bubblegum pink Versace number and Rose in her bright blue, skin tight Louis Vuitton dress.

We were exactly as Rose had said we would be: smashing. I was sure that every pair of eyes in the room was fixated on us as we entered.

That included the bright green ones in the corner. I flinched, falling a bit behind Alice and Rose, hoping the brightness of their dresses would distract from me.

I knew it was hopeless, though—he had seen me.

"Uh, Bella, what exactly are you doing hiding behind me?" Alice asked, turning and grabbing my hand, attempting to pull me forward.

"Don't!" I hissed. "He's over there."

"Who is?" Alice asked, scanning the room.

"Edward," Rose answered, gesturing to the corner of the room he was standing in.

"Don't make a move at him!" I stage whispered, trying to grab her arm.

Rose rolled her eyes. "You have got to lighten up, Bella. C'mon, why don't you go say hi?"

Alice nodded eagerly and tried to push me forward. I dug the heels of my stilettos into the ground. "Bella!" Alice complained. "It's not a big deal. Go _talk_ to him, for God's sake."

I made a face at her, a plan formulating in my head. "Fine," I told them. "I'm going." I began to walk in Edward's direction. When I was far enough away from them, I ducked into the crowd and headed toward the kitchen.

I escaped scot-free and opened the fridge, scanning its contents critically. I frowned, not seeing any alcohol, and shifted a milk carton to the side.

_Aha!_ I thought, withdrawing the bottle of Bordeaux blend wine. I eyed it, then decided it was good enough and shut the fridge door, turning to hop up on the counter. I arranged my dress, which came down mid-thigh, so that I wasn't showing anything improper, and popped out the cork of the bottle with little to no effort.

"Hiding in the kitchen, are we?" a familiar voice rung out before I could raise the bottle to my lips.

Edward appeared around the corner, that annoying smirk planted on his face.

"Maybe, maybe not," I answered. "What's it to you?"

He shrugged, leaning against the counter next to me, not even an inch away from my thigh. I shuddered involuntarily. "I was bored and I thought I saw you coming this way, so I followed."

I glared at him and tossed back a mouthful of wine. "So, now you're here. What are you going to do about it?"

"What's up with you and Jacob?" he asked bluntly.

I took another drink from the bottle before answering. "We're taking a break. We had some... issues to resolve."

"So you broke up?"

"No," I contradicted. "We're taking a break."

Edward nodded slowly. "Cool."

We sat—or stood, in his case—in silence for awhile, me drinking my wine and him staring off into space. Finally, I couldn't stand the blank look on his face anymore and held out the bottle of wine. "Want a drink?" I asked.

He took the bottle without a word and tipped it back. I watched as the liquid level of the bottle went down, admiring the way his fingers wrapped around it, and how his hair fell back from his head...

I blinked and snapped back to reality as he grinned at me, holding out the bottle. I took it from him and drank. I was sure I could taste him still on the rim of the bottle, all saltwater, honey, and _green_. It spun my mind places it shouldn't have been spinning to with the man in question standing right next to me while I wasn't exactly available.

"So, any weekend plans?" I asked as he took another, shorter, drink from the bottle.

He licked his lips before handing the bottle to me and answering. "Nope. Most likely I'll be recruited to help my mom with cleaning up the apartment or something equally as exciting."

"That sounds... fun."

"Oh yeah, so much fun," he laughed out. I studied his face, wanting to commit it to memory, and soon noticed that he seemed to be doing the same to me. We stayed there, staring into each other's eyes, for what felt like hours before he murmured, "You really haven't changed much."

I frowned. "Changed from what?"

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then he seemed to change his mind, grabbing the bottle back from me even though I hadn't taken a drink yet. "Hey!" I protested.

He laughed again, holding the bottle away. "You want it?" he teased, waving it in my face and jerking it back when I made a grab for it.

"You jerk," I accused, making to jump off the counter.

Suddenly, his hands were pressed against the marble on either side of my ass, his face next to mine. "Just how much of a jerk do you think I am, Bella?" he asked, his breath fanning across my face.

"A really, really big one," I whispered, and for a moment I thought he was going to kiss me and I wanted him to, but then he pulled away.

"Oh, come on, Bella, I'm not that bad, see?" he said, holding the bottle out to me. I hesitantly took it and took a sip, still appraising him with curious eyes. I handed the bottle back to him and he took a sip as well, shaking the bottle and peering into it. "There's not much left."

"Hey, since you're not doing anything this weekend, do you want to come with me to my parent's dinner party tomorrow night?" I blurted, completely disregarding his previous comment.

He was quiet for a moment before saying, "Really?"

"Uh, yeah. Really," I said, though I wasn't exactly sure what I was talking about.

"I'd love to, actually," he said, his gorgeous grin spreading across his face. I got lost in the perfection of his white teeth before suddenly realizing what his words meant.

Edward was going to be coming to a party where my parents were. My parents were nosy. That was on top of the rest of the world being nosy and assuming I was doing something with Edward, and then Jake would find out and I'd be cheating on him.

But with one glance back at the happy look on his face, I knew I couldn't tell him no now.

_Dear people,_

_Shit is going down on the Upper East Side._

_Ever since __**B**__ and __**J**__'s breakup, the world has been in turmoil. Our world, anyway. The icon couple, split? However will we survive?!_

_**N **__sure knows how she's going to survive—by leaving. The little punk rock princess is back in her nest, but I don't think we've seen the last of her._

_Never fear, lovelies, I'm sure __**B**__, even if she hasn't exactly been acting the model student lately, has a plan to re-establish herself as half of the next idol couple. After all, she and __**E**__ spent all their time together in the kitchen at a certain __**E-**__man's party. And—what's this? They're spending another night together at __**B**__'s parents' dinner party?_

_Oh yes, shit is definitely going down._

_I just get to sit back and watch it._

_xoxo,_

_Gossip Girl

* * *

_

**Review?**


	9. Chapter 8

_**Summer Girl  
**_**Chapter Eight**

I woke up the next day to the sun shining right in my face and a loud shout from downstairs. I rolled over to find that it was already after three in the afternoon, and promptly continued rolling right out of bed, my bare feet hitting the cold wood floor with a smack.

Fluffing my hair with my hands, I padded across the floor and headed down the stairs to see what the commotion was. I met Angela halfway.

"What's up?" I asked, my voice still a little raspy from sleep.

"Your parents are going insane over the dinner party," she explained. "They've got people running all over the place setting things up, and it doesn't even start for another four hours."

That explained her frazzled look.

"Oh. I'm going to find food," I replied, realized that I was seriously hungry. We both continued in opposite directions.

I managed to slip into the kitchen relatively unnoticed—by my parents, at least—and hopped up onto the counter with a package of Pop-Tarts, ripping it open and munching on the strawberry pastries as I watched the random workers run around the kitchen madly.

I was just popping the last of my second Pop-Tart into my mouth when Renee made an appearance. She was following behind a man that was carrying an obscenely large cake, barking orders at him so intently that she didn't notice me until well after the man had the cake safely settled on the island counter.

"Bella! You look terrible. Go get dressed," she commanded.

I rolled my eyes and jumped off the counter, brushing past her to head to my room.

"And don't sit on the counters!" she added.

"Morning, honey," Charlie said as I walked by. I flashed a smile at him before heading up the stairs.

I reached my room and headed straight for the bathroom, appraising myself in the mirror above the vanity.

My mother had been right. I looked terrible.

I snapped the shower on and took my time washing the grease and dirt from my hair and body. After I got out, I spent an even longer time blow drying and styling my hair to perfection, not to mention the time it took to pick out the perfect outfit and apply my makeup.

When I was done, a glance in the mirror showed a rather elegant girl with brown curls pulled into a messy bun wearing a simple white and black knee length Gucci dress. It wasn't my favourite look, but I didn't look absolutely atrocious like I had before.

I was digging in my closet for the Prada shoes that matched my dress when I heard my phone vibrate and chime from somewhere in the bathroom. I looked over to see the phone slowly sliding toward the edge of the vanity, threatening to fall off. I jumped up and caught it just before it fell, flipping open the text messages to see one from Edward.

_When do you want my ass over there?_

I did a quick calculation in my head and texted back.

_Seven. And you better dress nicely._

I went back to digging and located one of the elusive shoes before the phone vibrated again.

_So little faith._

Rolling my eyes at Edward's words, I found the other black pump and pulled them both onto my bare feet. I threw my phone onto the bed and clacked down the stairs to see my parents sitting on opposite ends of the couch, looking exceptionally tired, even though they had done nothing but yell at others.

"Bella," Renee said, motioning for me to come over to them. I did so, sitting on the chair across from them and looking at them questioningly.

The words out of my mother's mouth next surprised me.

"Could you go help Angela with the flower arrangements? I would do it, but I am so tired."

I gaped at her. "I'm not a maid."

"Bella," Charlie chimed in, his tone stern. I huffed and got up, shooting them a glare, which they didn't see, and walking into the dining room.

"Good afternoon, Miss Bella," Angela chimed as she put a daisy into a vase. "You look gorgeous."

"Thanks, Ang," I sighed out, sitting down in one of the carefully covered chairs. I watched silently as she bustled around the room, fixing all the flowers and placing them in strategic places. She didn't really need my help at all, for which I was grateful.

"What time is it?" I asked when she was finished.

She glanced at her watch and responded, "Six-thirty. I need to go check on the caterers. Excuse me." Angela disappeared into the kitchen, leaving me to stare at the flowers blankly.

The doorbell rang then, making me jump, and the loud voices of the early arriving guests and my parents drifted into the room.

"Bella!" Renee called for what seemed like the millionth time that day. I sighed and went out to greet the guests. From then on, it was guest after guest, unfamiliar face after unfamiliar face, handshake after handshake.

"Well, hello. Who are you?" Charlie's voice saying anything other than the usual 'Welcome' caught my attention, and I glanced over to see a familiar hand being clasped by my father's.

"I'm Edward Cullen," the newcomer said. "Bella invited me."

"Oh, Bella did, did she?" Renee asked, looking over at me. "Did you invite all your friends, Isabella?"

Before I could open my mouth to reply, Charlie said, "Cullen. Esme and Carlisle's son?"

Edward nodded, and Renee's attention was diverted from me. "Oh, the Cullens! We used to be great friends. How are they?"

Edward muttered something in reply and the conversation continued as we headed toward the dining room, where the guests had already been seated. Renee called for Angela to bring another chair for Edward, and we sat down, Edward next to me and across from my parents.

We began to eat and my mother started to chat with other guests, but Charlie and Edward kept their conversation going. As far as I could tell, Edward was giving him the details of his mother's work in Africa.

I was taking my time with chewing on a piece of meat when Charlie asked Edward whether he remembered playing in Central Park with me when we were little.

It took a moment to sink in, but when it did I swallowed my mouthful and snapped my head in Edward's direction just in time to see him nod.

The gears in my mind began to click. All of Edward's comments... the dream I'd had... they all made sense now.

Charlie said something about it being nice to talk to him and fell into a conversation about the stock market. I looked over at Edward to see him staring at his plate, his expression guilty.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I hissed.

He shook his head. "Later."

I fumed for the rest of dinner and was glad when the final plates were cleared and my parents began saying their goodbyes. I grabbed Edward's shirtsleeve and yanked him out of his seat and up the stairs to my room. Slamming the door behind us, I crossed my arms and glared at him.

"So?"

He sighed and lifted a hand to scratch the back of his head. "It's complicated..."

"I don't see what's so complicated about it, Edward. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to freak you out," he started lamely.

I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Bella, think about it. If I had come up to you that day on the beach and said 'Hey, Bella, it's me, Edward Cullen!', you would have completely freaked."

"Not necessarily..." I said weakly.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, you wouldn't have been scared of some random person that said he knows you practically stalking you back to Manhattan."

I winced. "Why did you tell me I was never going to see you again, then? Why would you lie like that?"

"I didn't know I was staying here," he said. "I thought I was going back to Africa. It wasn't until later that my parents told me we were staying." He bit his lip and looked at me, his expression almost hopeful.

I sighed. "You should have told me once you knew."

"Maybe."

"Not maybe. Yes."

He grinned. "Maybe."

"Edward, shut up."

"...maybe."

"You are _so_ annoying!" I pushed him backward so he lost his footing and landed on the bed and glared at him.

"You love it."

I stood still, contemplating his words, and was taken by surprise when he grabbed my wrist and pulled my down on top of him.

"Say it, Bella. You love it," he teased in a sing song voice, his breath on my face.

I smirked. "Maybe."

"To think I've missed more than ten years of your life and you're still almost exactly the same..." Edward mused.

"Oh, shut up. I must have changed some."

"Nope. You're still annoying and on top of me."

I stared at him blankly, wondering how in the hell I was ever on top of him when we were little, then decided it didn't really matter when his lips were right fucking there and kissed him.

_ Yum._

When we broke apart I smirked and said, "You know, you were the one that put me on top of you, so that's not exactly my fault."

"You didn't move," he pointed out.

"Touché," I muttered, admiring his ever greener eyes.

Suddenly, a continuous vibrating noise from beneath Edward cut into our staring contest. I jumped up and he rolled over, grabbing up my phone and answering it.

"You've reached Bella Swan," he intoned, then listened for a moment. "Certainly." He held the phone out to me.

"Hello?"

"Bella, this is Nessie. Will you meet me at Jackson Memorial Park tomorrow?"

* * *

***cue close up on Bella's face and dramatic scene ending sound effect***


	10. Chapter 9

_**Summer Girl  
**_**Chapter Nine

* * *

**

_Hello, Upper East Siders!_

_Remember that shit that's been going down? Well, it's still making the fall._

_**B**__ had a mad revelation at her parents' dinner party: __**E **__was her best childhood friend. Who knew! Well, my lovelies, __**E **__did._

_What other secrets could he have hiding up his sleeve?_

_**N**__ doesn't seem too worried about her cousin—she's more worried about his potential girlfriend. What could she possibly want from little __**B**__?_

_I'll be watching._

_xoxo,_

_Gossip Girl_

I shivered, rubbing my hands together in an effort to warm them up. I had been sitting on the huge cement Jackson Memorial Park sign for at least half an hour, waiting for Nessie to show up.

What the _hell_ was taking her so long? If she didn't show up in the next five minutes, I decided, I was calling the car to take me back to my nice, heated apartment.

"How does it feel to be stood up?" a voice from behind me inquired. I jumped up and spun around to see Nessie standing there wearing a puffy red winter jacket and ripped jeans.

"Nessie? Where the hell have you been?"

"Around." She flipped her red curls over her shoulder, walking toward me.

"Well, I've been out here freezing my ass off. Can we get to the point?"

"I'm trying," she said, spinning a set of keys around her gloved finger. "I asked you, how does it feel to be stood up?"

"I don't understand."

Nessie snorted. "Of course you don't. Do you remember when you told Edward you would meet him here?"

I felt my cheeks turn even redder than they already had been. "Yes," I muttered.

"I thought I'd give you a taste of your own medicine."

"All right, you did it. Point proven. I'm a bitch. Is that all?" I asked, pissed off.

"No, that's not all," she said calmly. "There are a few things you need to hear about Edward."

I stared at her, waiting for her to continue. She stared back, seemingly expecting me to say something. When I didn't, she sighed deeply and continued.

"When Edward latches on to something, he gets a bit obsessive. For example, when we were preteens and he was in the city for Christmas, he got a pair of skates as a gift. He loved those things. He always wanted to go out to the rink and skate after that—we spent more time wearing skates than shoes that vacation. When he had to go back to Africa, he cried. They didn't have time to skate in Africa, you see."

I smiled at the thought of young Edward skating, then frowned. "What's your point?"

"My point," Nessie said, "is that you're skating for Edward—except you're worse."

I blinked. "I don't get it."

"No, of course you don't," Nessie sighed out. "I mean, Edward has been obsessed with at least the idea of you all his life. In his eyes, you were his only friend; he didn't make any in Africa, since they moved around a lot. When he got the chance to meet you, his obsession doubled. Then, when he found out he was staying here—well, the obsession is off the charts."

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked, biting my lip. I didn't want to be some ideal version of the Bella Edward knew from when he was little. No matter how much he insisted I hadn't changed at all, I _was_ different now.

"Either you date him or you leave him alone," Nessie said, crossing her arms and giving me a glare.

"What?" I asked stupidly.

"Be his girlfriend or leave him alone," she slowly repeated. "Either he gets to keep you and be obsessed with you all he wants, or he doesn't get to have you and he can move on with his life. No more stringing him along like a puppy on a leash, you get me?"

I nodded. "I get you."

"Good, because I'm fucking freezing." She turned to go and then glanced back at me. "Do you want a ride home or something?"

I shook my head. "No, thanks. I'll be fine."

Nessie shrugged. "Suit yourself." She headed down the sidewalk away from me, disappearing into the crowd of people. I turned in the opposite direction and started walking.

It took me half an hour to walk all the way home, and by the time I got there, my fingers and toes nearing frostbitten status, I wasn't any closer to what I was going to do than I had been when I left the park.

!~!

"She left you standing in the cold for _half an hour_? That's crazy!" Alice exclaimed.

"Totally not nice," Rose agreed. "And then she told you that you had to date Edward or leave him alone? I think she went out of line, there. It's your business, not hers."

I stared down at my vanilla latte, watching as the foam spun with the circuits of my spoon. We were at Blu's for lunch, and I had just finished telling Alice and Rose what had happened with Nessie.

"See, that's just the thing. It _is_ her business. Edward is her cousin," I pointed out.

"Her cousin, yeah. Why should she be so involved? I hardly talk to most of my cousins," Rosalie countered. Alice nodded her agreement.

"Nessie was Edward's only real friend after he moved to Africa. She was the only one his own age he really got to hang out with, you know?"

"Sure," Alice said. "But, Bella, why are you trying so hard to protect her? She made you stand out in the freezing cold for ages!"

I shrugged. "She was trying to make a point—and she made it."

Alice and Rose stared at me blankly. "I don't understand," Alice finally said.

"I guess you wouldn't," I replied, taking a sip of my latte.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Rose asked indignantly.

My answer was cut off by hands on my shoulders and a chipper "Hello, ladies." I turned in my seat to see Edward smiling down at us.

"Hey, Edward," I said, grinning at him. "What's up?"

"I wanted to ask you something, actually. Will you come over here?"

"Sure." I got up and followed him over to an empty space near the door, shooting a glance back at Alice and Rose, who didn't return it as they usually did. I frowned.

"Sorry for dragging you away from your friends," Edward said, fidgeting nervously with the bottom of his tie. I grabbed his hands and moved them to his side.

"You seem to have gotten the bloodstains out of that," I said without thinking.

He smirked. "Not really. I had to get new ones."

I winced. "Sorry. My fault."

"It's not a problem, Bella."

"Right. So, what did you want to ask me?"

"Will you go skating at the Rockefeller with me on Friday?"

I blinked, remembering the story Nessie had told me. "Sure," I answered without really thinking.

Edward flashed his million dollar smile at me. "Great! I'll pick you up at eight, then?"

"Okay."

He turned to go back to the group of friends he'd come to Blu's with, and I walked back to our table on autopilot.

"What did he ask you that put that shit-eating grin on your face?" Alice asked.

"We're going skating at the Rockefeller on Friday."

"Ooh, a hot date," Rose cooed. "Are you going to get any action from that hot piece of man?"

I frowned. "I'm not going out with him because of his looks. I'm going out with him because I want to get to know him better. I must have had a reason for being his friend when I was little. I want to figure it out." I paused, looking at Alice and Rose. "You're so... so _vapid_ for only thinking about his looks."

A silence hung over the table during which we all stared at each other. Then Rose got up, grabbing her jacket and purse off the back of her chair.

"Fine then. I'm sure you don't want to hang around me if I'm so vapid. Have a nice life, Bella." She stalked off. Alice followed, shaking her head at me in disapproval.

I watched them go, an odd feeling building up in the pit of my stomach.

!~!

I stood in the lobby of my apartment building, holding my Nike skating bag awkwardly in one hand and adjusting my left brown Ugg boot so that it stayed on my foot properly. It was five before eight, and I was expecting Edward to show up any minute.

Sure enough, he walked in the doors not a minute after I'd put my foot comfortably down, his signature grin glued to his face.

"Hey, Bella."

"Hi, Edward."

"You all ready to go?" he asked, putting an arm around my shoulders and guiding me toward the freezing outdoors.

"Sure am," I said, hefting up my bag to show him.

"Perfect." He opened the door of his car for me and I got in, closely followed by him.

We sat quietly for a bit before he broke the silence by asking, "Have you gone skating before?"

"Uh, yeah, a bit."

"Just a bit?" he teased.

I stared at my lap, fidgeting with the fingertips of my gloves. "Yeah, well," I mumbled.

Edward laughed and grabbed my hand. "Stop fidgeting." I watched as his fingers wrapped around mine. I liked how that looked. "You've never been skating before, have you?"

I immediately turned red. "How did you figure that out?"

"I just had a feeling. Don't worry, I'll teach you."

"I'm going to feel like such an idiot," I muttered.

"Now, now. You can't be an idiot when I'm your teacher." He laughed, his eyes sparkling. "Cheer up, short stuff."

"Hey! Since when am I short stuff?"

"Since now," he quipped, ruffling my hair. "Hey, maybe we should get you a helmet."

"Oh no. No, no, no. I am not wearing a helmet."

He laughed his melodious laugh again. "No problem—I won't let you fall."

I smiled up at him, leaning into his side. For a moment, it seemed he was staring into the depths of my soul, and then our lips whispered against each other. They barely touched, but it seemed as though the very earth had shifted beneath us as we kissed.

Or maybe that was just the car stopping.

Edward glanced out the window, then back at me. "We're here," he sing-songed.

I groaned as he pulled me out of the car, hauling my bag along. "Do we have to do this?"

"Hey, you agreed to come with me."

"Yeah, but you did some kind of hypnotizing thing with your eyes or something. I'm hardly accountable."

"My eyes hardly have hypnotizing powers," he protested as we walked through the doors.

"You would be surprised," I shot back.

"Nah."

We continued our banter into the changing room, where Edward discovered that my skates were brand new and taught me how to use the skate sharpening machine, which freaked me out considerably.

"I'm supposed to reach in there? But it's hot!"

"Oh, calm down, Bella. You're not going to get hurt."

"How do you know?"

"I grabbed the other skate for you, didn't I? And am I fine?"

I eyed him critically. "I'd have to say... no..."

He elbowed me in the gut and pulled out my skate for me. "Go put your skates on, short stuff."

"Don't call me short stuff!"

"Short stuff," he repeated. I glared at him.

I handled the putting on of the skates pretty well, but then I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to tie the things up and ended up whining to Edward, who continued teasing me as he expertly tied them for me.

"How do you know how to tie them when yours are the guy version or something?"

"Hockey skates, Bella," he said patiently. "And I don't know, I just do. From watching my mom, maybe?"

"Hmph," I grunted, trying to get to my feet and balance on the pieces of metal. I ended having to lean on Edward just to walk. "How am I supposed to do this on ice if I can't even walk on the ground?"

"You'll be fine," Edward insisted.

"Yeah, on Mars I'll be fine."

We made it to the ice and, as long as I held onto Edward's hands, I managed to stay upright.

I was having some trouble with the moving part, though.

"Just... slide your foot. Yeah, like that. Now slide the other one... whoops!" He caught me under my arms and set me back upright. I grabbed on to his hands again.

"I can't do this, Edward. I can't."

"Yes, you can. Just keep gripping my hands like you're having a baby and we'll be fine."

"Like I'm having a baby?"

"Well, it's like you're trying to break all my bones. I'm guessing that's how it feels to be the husband."

"Psh, whatever. Let's do this."

"Okay, why don't we try me pulling you? Just so you can get the feeling, sort of." He began to skate backwards, pulling me along with him.

"This is really weird," I commented.

"Fun, right?"

"I dunno."

"Admit it, you think it's fun."

"I dunno."

"Short stuff thinks skating is fun!"

"Shut up!"

"Never, short stuff." He let go of my hands and kept skating. "Come and get me!"

I screamed as I continued to glide across the ice. "Edward!" I screeched.

He laughed, skating up beside me and grabbing my hands again. "You're fine, silly."

"Don't _ever_ do that again. I could have ended up flat on my ass."

"But a pretty little ass it is," he wisecracked. "What are those, Applebottoms?"

"Uh huh."

"Do you have boots with fur, too?"

"Nuh uh."

"Unfortunate. I guess the whole club won't be looking at you."

"Preferable."

"I'll be looking at you, though."

"That's all I want."

Somehow in the next five minutes we ended up in a bathroom stall, still wearing our skates and having a heavy make out session to match our heavy winter outerwear.

"I kind of just want to rip all this winter shit off you," I mused as we paused to take a breath.

"Mmmm," he hummed, looking down at me.

All of a sudden, his expression changed from one of content to a frown, and he pushed away from me.

"I don't get you," he said.

"What?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

"I don't understand," he repeated.

"You don't understand _what_?"

"You," he said simply.

"Elaborate, please?"

"You said you were still dating Jacob, right?"

"I guess so, yeah."

"Then why are we doing this?"

"Edward, I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, Bella, you know damn well what I mean. You say you're still dating Jacob, but here you are, making out with me in the washroom at the Rockefeller Center." He paused, studying my face. "I think you need to resolve whatever's going on with Jacob before we go any further."

"But—"

"Thanks for the date, Bella. I had fun," Edward said as he let himself out of the stall.

"So did I," I whispered inaudibly, closing the door behind him, locking it, and sitting down on the toilet seat lid, staring at the tiles on the floor.

_What now?_


	11. Chapter 10

_**Summer Girl  
**_**Chapter Ten**

_Well, my lovelies, __**B**__'s got herself in a pickle now, doesn't she?_

_She was spotted getting some hands on skating lessons at the Rockefeller with__** E**__. Turns out they were a little too hands on for him—he was seen leaving without his little lady friend._

_**A**__ and __**R **__seem to be having an issue with __**B**__ as well—what did she do to piss off all these people?_

_More importantly, how is she going to get back in their good graces?_

_Boy, this is exciting. I better bring out the popcorn._

_xoxo,_

_Gossip Girl _

I stood in front of the familiar door, hesitant to lift my fist to knock on it. What if he didn't take too well to my appearing randomly at his door? It wasn't like it was something I'd never done before, but I'd only done it when we were dating.

But we were still dating, right?

I had finally mustered up the courage to knock when the door swung open.

"Bella?" Jake's incredulous voice rang out.

_God, I've missed that voice. _"Hey, Jake," I said nervously.

A familiar face appeared over his shoulder.

"Nessie?" I asked.

"Er, hey there, Bella," she said, smirking and patting down her unruly hair.

"Were you two—were you just—" I couldn't get the words out. I didn't like these circumstances at all.

"We were about to go out for dinner," Jake explained, glancing between her and me. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I talk to you... alone?"

He was quiet for a moment before nodding. He glanced at Nessie almost apologetically before slipping out into the hallway and closing the door. "What do you want, Bella?"

"Why are you with her?" I burst out.

Jake sighed. "Bella..."

"Don't baby me, Jake. Just tell me."

"I like her. We're getting to know each other."

"Each other's lips?"

His guilty expression said it all.

I stayed silent for a moment, thinking. "Do you like her more than you like me?" I inquired at a near whisper.

"What does that have to do with it?"

"It has everything to do with it!" I yelled, unable to control myself. I glared at him, breathing heavily. "I miss you, Jake. I came here to see what was going on between us. But I guess it's nothing, right? All those years of friendship and dating are being flushed right down the tube just because she's prettier than I am."

"Bella, _you_ dumped _me_," Jake cut in.

"I didn't dump you, Jake. I wanted to take a break."

"You're kidding. Bella, there is _no_ difference between taking a break and breaking up. Absolutely none. We're _over_, don't you get that?"

I stared at him blankly. I _didn't_ get it—Jake and I, over? Forever? It made no sense.

He frowned apologetically at me. "Goodbye, Bella," he said softly as he turned and went back into his apartment.

My feet felt like they were made of lead as I dragged them to the elevator and then into the lobby. I stared out at the snow falling from the sky onto the sidewalk. Some small child threw a snowball that landed on the window, smashing into a million different pieces and dripping down the glass.

It looked like my heart felt.

I took out my cell phone and stared blankly at it. I wanted to call Alice or Rosalie or both to come pick me up and make me feel better like only they knew how, but they were pissed at me. I sighed and called my car to come pick me up.

I waited for it outside, the wet snowflakes soaking into my clothes and hair.

I didn't allow my face to get wet until I was safely tucked into my bed, covers over my head like I was still a little kid hiding from a thunderstorm.

!~!

I spent the next week in a stupor. I went to school, where people whispered and pointed at me. Everyone except the two people I really wanted to pay attention was fixated on my every move. I went straight home after school and sat in front of my TV, eating ice cream from the carton and sobbing at soap opera episodes that too closely resembled my own life. When I wasn't doing that, I was sleeping and dreaming.

In one dream, my life was perfect—I was married to Jake, we had kids, and there was no sign of Edward at all. Alice and Rosalie were still my best friends, married to Jasper and Emmett with their own kids.

In another dream, I was with Edward. We were never happy—always fighting and making up, fighting and making up. I was under constant stress.

In yet another dream, I was alone. I owned too many cats for a healthy living environment, and I watched little kids dare each other to knock on the scary lady's door.

I woke up in a cold sweat from each and every dream.

I had just woken up after taking a nap for an afternoon to some couple making out on the TV screen. I shut it off, feeling sorry for myself yet again. I dragged myself off the couch, hauling a blanket with me. In the kitchen, I found that there was no ice cream left. _Just my luck_, I thought as I headed back to my new favourite couch. _Friday night, home alone, and I don't even get to eat ice cream._

I was about to sit down again when the buzzer rang.

I contemplated ignoring it, but then I reconsidered. No one had come to my house in ages—my parents were off on a business trip yet again, and Angela was always puttering around, so she didn't count.

Shuffling over the door, I pressed the talk button. "Yeah?" I asked groggily.

"Isabella Marie Swan, you will let me up there or I will never do anything nice for you again," a familiar voice raged over the doorman's attempts to talk.

"Sorry. Let her in," I told him.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied.

I leaned against the wall, wondering why exactly Alice was here. Didn't she hate me? Didn't everyone hate me? Wasn't my life over? Nothing computed.

The elevator doors swung open, and there stood Alice, a sullen Rosalie standing behind her.

"Oh God, thank goodness we came. You look _terrible_," Alice screeched upon seeing me.

"Yes, well, I figured it didn't matter. My life is over," I said dully.

"Oh, shut it, your life is not over," Alice scolded, grabbing my arm and pulling me up the stairs. I let the blanket fall rather than tripping over it.

"Oh yeah? Then why is Rose giving me the death glare?" I stage whispered.

"I am not giving you the death glare," Rosalie protested.

"Oh? Then what does the look on your face mean?"

"It means..." She sighed and glanced down at the floor. "I'm still mad at you for calling me vapid and basically insinuating that Alice is stupid, but you're my best friend, Bella. I can't just abandon you."

Tears welled up in my eyes. "Oh, Rose," I said, stopping at the top of the stairs. "I didn't mean it when I said you were vapid. I was in shock; I didn't know what I was saying."

"Whoa, calm down. Alice is right. Thank God we came over now rather than later. You're going soft, Bells."

"Just gimme a hug," I sobbed out, spreading my arms. Both Alice and Rose jumped in. "I missed you guys. I missed you bad. I thought I was going to be an old cat lady."

"As if we would let that happen," Alice teased. "Let's go get you fixed up."

"For what?" I asked, the depression creeping back into my voice. "I already had two boys and lost them. I think my chances are up."

"Who said you lost Edward?" Rose said mischievously, pushing me down onto the vanity seat.

"Didn't I?" I asked, looking at my eyeliner and mascara rimmed eyes in the mirror.

"Bella, Bella, Bella," Alice sighed out from the closet. "Don't you remember? You never give up on what you want."

!~!

I found myself in front of another wooden door, this one not familiar to me at all, afraid to knock.

With Jake, it had only taken remembering all the times I'd done it when we were dating to get up the courage to knock.

But we weren't dating now, were we?

The thought hurt my heart. I knew I liked Edward as more than a friend, but Jake _was_ my friend. He had always been my friend. I had imagined that we would be together forever, have a perfect wedding and perfect children.

But now I saw that all with someone else. I had been his friend all his life, even if he hadn't been mine. I was ready to commit to at least finding whatever it was we had when we were little. If I didn't like it, if we fought all the time like my dream, then oh well, life moves on.

With that, I managed to lift my fist and knock on the door.

It took nearly thirty seconds before the door opened to reveal a heavily mussed Edward Cullen blinking at me. I looked around for the girl, ready to run as fast I could out of the building.

"Bella?" Edward asked. "What are you doing here?"

The girl had still not made an appearance.

"I... I wanted to talk to you," I stammered out.

He appraised me for a moment before stepping aside and motioning for me to go in. It was a nice place, I noted as I walked in. Pleasant, spacious, tastefully decorated—I approved. I probably would have approved no matter what it looked like—Edward lived there. That was all I needed to know.

I turned around and looked at Edward as he closed the door behind me. "Is there no one else here?" I asked.

He shook his head. "It's just me at the moment. Why, who did you think would be here?"

I couldn't stop my blush. "Nobody," I said quickly.

Edward eyed me for a moment. I could tell he didn't believe me, but he let it go. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well, um, us, I guess."

"I didn't know there was an us," Edward commented.

"I didn't think you wanted there to be an us," I replied, fidgeting with my gloves.

He blinked disbelievingly at me. "Are you kidding? I wanted there to be an us more than anyone else on this planet. I thought you didn't want to be friends or more than friends or whatever. You never called me after we went skating."

I cleared my throat. "_You_ went skating. I... well, it wasn't skating."

"Sure it was." His gorgeous grin spread across his face, instantly lighting up all his features and making him look ten times better. All too soon it was gone again. "Why didn't you call?"

"I didn't know you wanted me to call..." I said, confused.

"I told you to tell me when you worked things out with Jacob. I know from all the gossip that you did."

"Worked things out. More like he worked and I listened," I muttered.

Edward looked at me sadly. "Does this mean you're not over him?"

I blinked. Was I over Jacob? I thought back to the thoughts I'd had before knocking.

I thought I was.

"You know," I began, "I was walking in the park one day, right after I told Jake I wanted to take a break. These girls from school were gossiping about in class, and I flipped out on them and got kicked out. As I was walking, all I could think of were two things: one, how much of an asshole you were for keeping secrets from me; and two, how much I wanted to just look at you."

"So you couldn't get me out of your thoughts, hey?"

I glared at him. "See, that's exactly what I mean about you. Anyway, I stopped at a hot dog vendor to get some food, only to realize that I'd left my money at the fucking school. I wondered to myself if life could get any worse than that. And you know what I realized after Jake told me it was over? It could get a fuckload worse. I really need friends in my life—I didn't get up off my ass until Alice and Rose made me."

"I take it they're responsible for the get up?" Edward teased.

I glanced down at my bubble gum pink shirt and ripped up jeans, complete with curly hair falling over my shoulders. "Get up? You're terrible!" I exclaimed, momentarily forgetting that I was giving a speech.

"Nah. I like your hair like this. It reminds me of how you looked on the beach that day."

I smiled at the memory, then smacked Edward's hand away from me. "Stop distracting me!"

"Sorry, sorry. Please do continue."

"What I was saying was that I want you to be my friend, Edward. I _need_ you to be my friend."

He bit his lip. "Only your friend?"

"I was hoping for a little bit more than that, actually," I admitted.

Edward stared at me. His eyes seemed to be conveying many message, but I couldn't decipher them. I slowly realized that he was coming closer to me, so close that our foreheads touched, and then closer still, until our lips met in the most sensational kiss I had ever shared with anyone. It literally felt like he was pouring every inch of his being into me, and I returned it with just as much force.

He shifted slightly away, our foreheads still touching, and whispered, "I want you to have it all."

I stayed silent, caught in the moment, before falling back to Earth. I jerked away from Edward.

"Edward, you have to know something."

He looked at me, confused. "What?"

"You remember me as the little girl I was all those years ago. You have to realize that I'm not like that anymore. I'm not innocent. I don't always make the right decisions. I can be a total slut and a bitch and whatever else you want to call me."

"I would never—"

I held up my hand. "Let me finish. I try my hardest to live up to everyone's standards, but I think over the past months since I met you again I've realized that the only person whose standards I should bother with is me. I intend to stand by that."

Edward was silent for a moment after I stopped talking, no doubt making sure I was done. When he was sure, he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me to him. I rested my head on his shoulder and sighed.

"I want you to be you, Bella," he whispered in my ear. "I'll stick by you no matter how bitchy you get or how bad you are at skating. I'll always be here. Okay?"

"Okay," I agreed, putting my own arms around him. "And right now, I want you to just stay right there and hold me."

"Always."

I smiled out at the world that was looking in through the panel windows and closed my eyes, breathing in all that was purely Edward.

I never wanted the moment to end.

* * *

**This is the last chapter. The next one will be the epilogue. :)**

**Favourite line?**


	12. Epilogue

_**Summer Girl  
**_**Epilogue**

The waves washed up on the beach, coming dangerously close to the drawing Edward Cullen had just made in the sand. He frowned and looked up from the sand. He gazed along the beach, looking for a familiar head of brunette hair. _Where is she? _he thought to himself in frustration.

All of a sudden, he felt hands over his eyes and heard a soft, teasing voice whisper "Guess who!" in his ear.

He smirked to himself. "Um, Mom? What are you doing out here?" he asked the hands.

"Mom?" the voice asked indignantly, her hands dropping from his face. "You think I'm your _mother_?"

Edward laughed as he turned around and grabbed Bella around her waist, pulling her to him. "Of course I don't think you're my mother." He leaned down to kiss her. "She doesn't kiss anywhere near as good as you do."

"You know this how?"

"She kisses me on the cheek." He grinned at Bella, and she thought she could feel her heart melting.

"Yeah, sure," she scoffed. "You can make comparisons with that if you want."

"I shall." He threaded his hand into hers and pulled her over a couple feet. "Check it out."

In the sand was an inscription with both their names inside a huge heart. Bella giggled. "This is how you profess your love?"

Edward frowned. "I thought it was appropriate."

"Oh, sure." When she caught sight of the honestly disappointed look on his face, she bumped her hip to his. "Lighten up, Edward. I'm kidding. I love it."

"Really?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Really," she confirmed, leaning in to kiss him again.

"I think I recognize this bikini," Edward murmured against her lips as he slipped a finger in between the yellow fabric and her tanned skin.

Bella laughed, pulling away. "I think I remember it being on your floor," she teased.

"Mmm, yes, I remember that." His expression turned mischievous. "Want to see if we can recreate that?"

"I would love to," Bella said, "but we've got that dinner with your parents, remember?"

"Let's not go," Edward said imploringly, pulling her against him again.

"Edward, we have to go. We promised we'd be there." She laid her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat and feeling the warmth of the sun that had soaked in through the days they'd spent on the beach. "I think Esme wants to show us off."

Edward chuckled. "She loves you, you know."

"I love her, too. I think I might leave you for her."

"First you _are_ my mother, now you want to _marry_ my mother. What is this?" Edward feigned shock.

"She's charming! And she always knows what to say. She's really quite lovely, you know."

"Who are we talking about?"

"I thought I was talking about your mother, actually," Bella mused. "But now that I think about it, I might just be talking about someone else I know."

"Oh? Who might that be?"

"Bob."

"_Bob_?" Edward inquired, raising his eyebrows.

Bella looked up at him, giggling. "Yes, Bob."

"Who's Bob? Do I know him?"

"Maybe."

"I'll get it out of you," Edward said decisively, starting to tickle Bella's sides. She attempted to push him away unsuccessfully. "C'mon, tell me! Tell me!"

She laughed uncontrollably, falling back into the sand with Edward on top of her, still tickling.

"Stop! Stop it, Edward!" she yelled through her giggles. "There's no Bob! It's you!"

He immediately stopped tickling her and tilted his head, grinning. "Well, if that's the case..." Edward slowly leaned toward her.

Their lips were almost touching when a yell from Edward's porch deck startled them."Edward! Bella! Come in and get cleaned up!"

Bella rolled out from under Edward abruptly, getting to her feet quickly. Edward followed slower, a grumpy expression on his face.

"This isn't over," he told her.

"It isn't?"

"No. We have our whole lives."

Bella smiled and took his hand.

"Is that a promise?" she asked.

"Always," he confirmed.

Back on the beach, the waves had washed away Edward's drawing—but Edward and Bella's hands held fast as they entered the house, laughing.

Together.

_Hello Upper East Siders, GG here,_

_Well, it's been a whole year and the summer has begun again. What can be said for love and lust these days?_

_**B **__and __**E**__ have come full circle since last year—and, dare I say it, they may actually last this time. __**J**__ and __**N**__ have found new love in each other; they were spotted hanging out—or hanging all over each other—in a little cafe in Brooklyn._

_Oh, teenage love._

_As for me, I've got my own man, and mighty fine as he is, I think I'll go get him to apply some more sunscreen to my back._

_Have a good one!_

_xoxo,_

_Gossip Girl_

**The End

* * *

**

**Exactly one year after I posted the prologue, I give you the epilogue.**

**I feel accomplished.**


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